Thomas Kemp: A true legend

Yesterday I was watching Criminal Minds and at the end... the narrator quoted a few lines by Thomas Kemp. It said that in love the lines between right and wrong blurs. The fact that there is a limit you can push blurs too. Thomas Kemp is keeping sick and it might be one of his last poems.

Please read below and appreciate the beauty of a true observational artist..

Before the sun and first light

He had gathered his old bag of stone-cutting tools

And drank his bitter black coffee.

One piece of dark crusty bread was all that was left.

A wooden handle on his hammer curved to his grip.

His coat was heavy from the dust and sweat.

The mountains of stone and granite were not far.

Worn over years a path between the ruff and the smooth

Beaten down and eroded, his feet were steady

The cool wind pulled at his cap and wanted to blow it away.

Even if his heart had become tired of holding on

The journey to love had become so far.

Too far?

But, half way up the mountain each day

The cliffs started to sing to him

And his ears heard the cry again,

“Release me”?

Love is just around the bend.

Let ME Find My Hidden Talent

I have a handful of friends whom I trust and I bundle full of those who are just there. Everytime I talk to any one of em, they are all fed up of how life is shaping up. Everyone is progressing but no one is happy. By being happy I mean a person who has not attained the understanding of there sole purpose of taking birth.

Everyone is busy, working, loving, smiling, laughing, crying. Some of us mend heartbreaks and the story continues; but when do we stop and take a look at our lives? Is it our sole purpose to take birth in the system, be a part of it and then perish? Is this our only motto?

I have always loved this line that " Its better to burn out than to fade away". Everyone around us is fading away. So below are some excerpts I have gathered which will help each one of us to find their true calling in life.

Special reference to a friend I know who gave up social conventions and pursued what he loved the most.

Let The Excuses Rest.

First, figure out what benefits you are getting by NOT finding your own talents. For example, are you really afraid to try something new because it might not work, cause it needs investment, cause your lazy enough to not put in the effort? So not letting your talents surface gives you an excuse for not succeeding - or do you just feel safer being able to blame your problems on someone or something else? Dont blame anyone for what's not right. Make it right.

Once you know what you are gaining by NOT seeking out your own talents, it is easier to let go of those old outdated beliefs about yourself and move on to new ideas.

I knew a budding bodyduilder once who used up all his pay cheque to buy his supplements. Though he was not flashy but his body dazzled everyone around him, similarly I had a teacher once whose biggest investments were his guitars. Trust me your talent can earn for you.

Look Within

What are the things that you do naturally that others say "I wish I could do that as good as you do" and you say "whatever, no big deal"

That thing you do best IS your hidden talent and look at yourself in the mirror and say "Hi, I'm XYZ and I can do blah blah better than the rest". Then, literally - you will be able to see how it feels. I guarantee it will feel right.

Others See it Before You

One key to discovering a hidden talent is to remain open and receptive to new ideas - no matter how crazy they may seem. I for one have not exercised this. But i plan to rightaway. Dont reach the halfway mark and back off. See it off till the end.

Do What You Love

The best way to discover a hidden talent is to think about what you love to do. What have you always wanted to try but haven't yet? What do you see others doing that you wish you were doing? The best tip for discovering your hidden talent is simply to think about what you love to do!

You Knew As A Child

Remember what you imagined or pretended when you were playing by yourself as a child. This will key you into your soul's purpose. It is important to remember what you imagined when you were alone, and therefore un-influenced by other people, as a child your "inner self" is more pronounced than the conscious mind and conscious ego.

One Thing With Effortless Ease?

1. What one particular thing do you do VERY well with effortless ease? You might not even realize you´re doing it because of how WELL you do it!

2. What is it that you LOVE to do the most? That thing that while you´re doing it, time freezes and hours slip by without you even noticing.

3 .Everything around that hidden talent autamitacally intrests you, every conversation spikes your interest.

4. Whenever you are doing or performing this hidden talent, even if you´re uncoinciously doing it, you feel happy, at ease, peaceful, secure and comfortable with yourself, that moment, and that thing that you´re doing

Take It: The Only Practical Way

Being practical is cliched with its massively repetitive use. I thought of myself as a hopeless romantic but i have seen me change. I think I am practical when it comes to personal relationships.


When i was in college being in a relationship had a different perspective altogether. It was all rosy but please understand practicality does not give you a bitter outlook at life or at love. It just makes you someone who can assess and beat the odds.


Gambling is the best example of understanding this situation. If you are betting against the house then you will lose, maybe today or maybe some other day. No one likes to lose so a smart gambler always remembers the percentages. Similarly have a third person's perspective in your own life. Be that third person. Pros and Cons will always remain a game until you can separate yourself out of the situation and give an unbiased conclusion.


Here is a extract from a very useful essay on the The Art of Being Practical:

"Action in this life is a must. Since action is called practice, persons who live on Earth have to be practical. This means that you cannot spend all day sitting down in a chair, passing the time imagining, worrying, and thinking, and in doing so, forgetting to use your body for performing those actions that need to be done.....

The whole life for a human being is how to survive: man has to be aware of this and be practical. If we are not deluding ourselves, we see why it is necessary that a person with knowledge has to be practical, and why he should not be sitting somewhere in a cave only having an idea of karm: that it is not action.

You are equipped with that knowledge and enlightenment which tells you that your life cannot be shut off: you should do those things that are useful for a human being to conduct. So if your knowledge gained over here or gained anywhere in the world does not inspire you to be practical, then it will not be called practical knowledge.

A human being, with a sense of inquiry to know more, will continue asking and asking and asking questions. But just asking questions and getting answers for whole days or whole months or whole years on end, will not allow you to be practical. And if you are not practical, you cannot sustain your life.

Do People Deserve Second Chances?

Should we give people a second chance? Is forgiveness the responsibility of society as a whole or i it the responsibility of an individual.

This thought challenges us to look at the implications of allowing people the opportunity to 'right their wrongs'...

Many ancient cultures have long believed, that holding on to negative emotions such as anger, affects our health. By mentally living in the past, we are not free to experience the present, the mind manifests negative thought patterns that drag us down psychologically, and by continually going over such negative events we stay trapped. We suffer from anxiety, depression, and other stress related disorders, which physically manifests in the body for all to see like ulcers, high blood pressure and often other ailments that perhaps doctors have no explanation for.

Spiritually we are in crisis; we are out of touch with our inner selves, feeling lost and disconnected. Inner peace is replaced by internal chaos.

There is a myth about forgiveness, it is greatly misunderstood. Forgiveness is seen as a sign of weakness, to forgive must mean we are yielding, but nothing could be further from the truth. Imagine how it feels to hold onto a heavy weight constantly, when our mind holds on to past issues and emotions we carry the same burdens. Surely second chances and forgiveness go hand in hand, one depends on the other, which is not to say we forget, but if we all, as human beings, reflected on our own lives from time to time, perhaps we would not be so quick to judge those who are willing to give others a second chance.

QUOTES from Bloggers

"To truly forgive someone who has hurt you in someway takes incredible character and strength and I admire anyone who can openly do that and mean it.
I admit I don't find it so easy to really forgive people .
I will forgive to make peace but it can take me a long time to forget. "

"even if that person had done something really horrible/painful etc... forgiving them doesn't means that you'll allow them to do that to you again.... or for them to take advantage of it.

Its your own personal standards.... as long as you did the right thing... do good to yourself and others... thats all that matters..."

"forgiveness is a sign of strength, only when you are totally capable of getting even or revenge, revenge is like they say a dish that best served cold, so it feels good getting even, that's why it takes a lot of strength and character"

Forgiving Infidelity

Forgiving infidelity can be one of the hardest things that any man or woman is ever asked to do. Making the decision to get married or to have children pales in comparison to the monumental effort that is required to tell your spouse, and yourself, that you can forgive them for having an extramarital affair. You have been lied to, betrayed and heartbroken. You have had the reality of your world shattered and been forced to realize that some parts of the life that you have been leading have been a lie. Recovering from that shock is hard enough. Determining that you are willing to give the one that did this to you another chance is even harder.

Some people see forgiving infidelity as a sign of weakness. They believe in the old adage

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." They firmly feel that if someone cheats on you once, they will do it again. They will tell you that forgiving it is as good as allowing it and that doing so only makes you a doormat. For a person in love though, it may be harder to give up on your dream of a life together than it is to give up your anger. Neither choice is wrong and neither choice is one size fits all.

Sort it out for yourself.

If its me, I will always wait for a sign which will tell me all is good, fate plays a major role in our happiness. Sometimes we need to shed tears to avoid continuous misery. I dont know what that might be. But I will never let my faith dwindle. 

A Lesson From the Bible

Contentment is one of life's greatest blessings(if learnt). But contentment is not something that can be sent down from heaven. It is a state of mind. It is not dependent upon our situation or our circumstances. Many people are contented and happy in circumstances where others would be thoroughly discontented. Some people are discontented under the most favorable circumstances. Contentment is a utopian world which we build ourselves. It is a state of mind we develop. It is an attitude toward things that comes to us through careful cultivation. It is something that lives inside us, not something that circumstances create.

We can view these things with indifference, ignoring responsibility, evading duty. When we have done our duty, met our responsibility, corrected those things that need correction so far as is possible for us, they we may have real contentment. Contentment does not mean surrender to conditions. It does mean being satisfied in the circumstances and conditions that exist for which we are not responsible.

There are many things people desire, which can never give them contentment. One man says, "If I had a million dollars, I could be contented." Another thinks if he had political preferment, that would satisfy his ambition and he would be content. Another has another thing to attain to make him content. These things when attained do not bring contentment. As already pointed out, contentment is a lesson learned, a state of the heart, an attitude toward things.

We must learn what desires to gratify and what desires to repress. We must learn what things can bring contentment and what things destroy it. We must avoid the latter while we seek the former. We must cultivate our spirits.

What goes Around comes Around: It's poetry in motion.

For the early Buddhists, karma was non-linear. Other Indian schools believed that karma operated in a straight line, with actions from the past influencing the present, and present actions influencing the

future. As a result, they saw little room for free will. Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. This constant opening for present input into the causal process makes free will possible.

Whether karma is to be considered self-imposed depends on how you look at free will. True, any person can change their karma at any time simply by changing their actions and responses. However, this does not mean that they are able to do so. Individuals, because of existing karma, are unable to take certain actions, or make certain responses, that would renovate their karma in the future.

All actions that radically change karma are transcendent actions.

 In order to change karma, you must first transcend karma, and see it from the outside, as it were. We are all potentially capable of doing this, because in addition to our ordinary consciousness, we have a higher consciousness. Trouble is, that higher consciousness usually remains mute, and seldom interferes with our physical lives. Running life from day to day is left up to ordinary consciousness.

Any time higher consciousness steps in and acts, our lives change radically and immediately, in what appears to us to be a miraculous manner.

Excerpts from Bloggers:

"Agree - maybe not instantly, but it happens.

People get what they give in life. If you treat people horribly, you're going to get yours some day - and if you treat me horribly, I can only hope I'm there to see you when you get yours - because I want you to see my face and realize what you've done to me & how it felt".

"The concept of karma (or "what goes around comes around" or "you reap what you sow" or however your philosophy du jour expresses it) is only generally true.

Evil exists, and continues to exist, despite sowing a lot of bad karma. Cruel people are not always subjected to cruelty. Catty people are not always the object of derision. It just doesn't work out that way.”

“I believe that what goes around increases the odds of what comes around being like itself (awkward, that). If you are vicious, the odds are increased that you will tend to place yourself in circumstances where you may be the victim of someone else's violence. But it is not a given."

My View:-

I personally feel that keeping a clean and guilt free conscience is the key in maintaining a healthy life. Sometimes things affect  us not in its literal sense, an allegory in play. We do something wrong and over think it to shreds, maybe physically we are not being derided for being evil but our subconscious is killing us.

It ‘s just not worth it, try to be in harmony with everyone around you and do not hurt people unnecessarily.

Tell Me Why People Cry!!

I was thinking lately- why do we cry? why do we cry when we are sad? Does it only happen when we get badly hurt? why does some cry when they are happy?
I mean, while laughing we are only taking out energy, but while crying- we are losing lot of water and minerals, so why? Are we losing stress by crying? Is there something in the tears that while losing it, it helps us feel better? How does it help? Is that only an ancient wont that meant to show others we are not feeling well? or well, exciting or something? that we are over normal?

Is it easier for the body to reduce stress by losing water and minerals so it will be diverted by the need of some material, so we will have something to do (fill the supply again) instead of thinking about the ungood?

Is it good to cry when we are overwhelming?
- - WHY CRY?

There is an obvious *purging* of stress with healthy crying (as opposed to dysfunction depression) is it merely a surrogate content?

Do other species cry?

Some species will cry in response to physical pain (horses I vaguely remember) but is this equating physical and emotional pain valid?

Why the association of tear function for eyes and the expression of distress in our species?

Tears have a very normal function with respect to maintaining our eyes and vision but this association with the psychology of stress is not *obvious* and would be interesting to develop further as it is so universal a phenomenon.

Extreme joy and sorrow can both be physically a lot alike in terms of actual *stress* to the system.

For example I really don't get hurt of words (definitely not cry from it), and I don't cry from physical pain usually, and I also am not crying from happiness, and well, mentally- I think I am pretty strong too... but what does bring tears to my eyes?