The Lands of Forever 2

I went to open the window from a little while. The weather is so hot tonight! I found a slight, cool breeze as I was standing there, looking at the mosque below, hearing them pray the dawn prayer. I looked up, and I couldn’t look down again for the next 5 minutes, till my neck felt pain.

I just couldn’t stop staring at these tiny glitters in the almost black sky, scattered carefully next to a glowing crescent moon, with a small puff of cloud or two.

I’ve always loved looking up at the sky at night, but tonight it just looks different, more magical. It looks as if someone scrubbed the moon and the stars to reveal a glower surface and polished the sky behind them with a darker coating!

I tried to count the stars. 1 2 3…30. No, I thought I messed up so I tried counting them again…32. And again, no, 33! Well, in that range! I couldn’t count them right. It seemed as if each time I tried to count, someone would sprinkle even more stars!

But the same familiar stars stayed there. I could pick out the 3 shiniest stars that form a slightly curved line, and those many, little, dim ones that I’ve always thought they look like a chicken leg! I wonder if they have a name.

Although only a crescent was shining, I still could see the rest dark part of the moon, that waits for someone to turn it on again. Or maybe it already finds peace, beauty and glory in the shadows.

I looked down again, wishing that I could take this section of the sky and stick it in my bedroom ceiling so I could look at it all I want as I lie on my bed.

I went to ask my very own moon if the sky became dark and he could see the crescent, but he said that there is no crescent tonight. Well, I guess it didn’t reach the other side of the world just yet, but I hope it will soon.
 

The Lands of Forever 1

Ever notice how hypnotizing the smooth wind can be at night? I'm standing in the balcony in almost complete darkness. The street lamps below lighting the still street with soft yellow rays.

The luminous, dotted stars in the dark navy, clear sky decorating the place from above. Just looking at them makes me forget about the whole world I'm living in and pulls me secretly into theirs. I could look up there forever.

In the far right, a mysterious glow invades the peaceful darkness of the sky. It's the borrowed glory of the ever beautiful Moon.

The wind comes and goes with the salty breeze of the sea that, once inhaled, fills my soul with strange ecstasy and, at the same time, nostalgia for that fantasy, wooden house on the sand.

It's the perfect moment to doze off in silence in the mystical world of the lands of forever!

I think, therefore I am!

This is one quote for René Descartes that got stuck on my head ever since I've heard it on one of the Philosophy lessons I took, about 2 years ago.

"Cogito, ergo sum" translated "I think, therefore I am."

I've always thought, and I guess a lot would agree, that one of the main things that makes us really humans, is our intellect. And that without this, we are just walking, robotic beings who choose to have no choice. That is why this phrase has always been sort of my motto in many things that concern my life.

I'm not exactly talking about the capability to solve hard mathematic problems or producing beautiful prose. But, i'm talking about the "choice" part in our life, the part that we get to analyze things around us or the decisions we are to make, and think about it to determine its points and whether it is right or wrong, necessary or trivial.

I think that most, if not every, thing in our life has many perspectives and basic reasons behind it. And one thing I enjoy a lot is trying to find the reasons behind unclear, questionable things or mysteries.

One thing that irritates me the most is the way some people refuse to think! They shut down their mind and there is never a question or a thought or a new idea.
And what nags me the most is when some others state a "must" or "should be" action or a thing without a clear reason. And when you come to ask, and that sort of how a conversation would be:
-"why?"
-"that's just how it is"!
-"But, did you ever think or attempt to think of it and try to find the reasons behind it?"
-"No, nor do I want to"
-"But why?! And how can you accept something without thinking of it, what if it is wrong or has no basis? Isn't that the reason God created your mind for you and gave you choice?"
-"Well, that's just how it is! I grew up and found it like that, why would I change it or think of it?!"

And that's where I rest my case, sometimes. It reminds me of this nice story I read in a FW e-mail before and it goes something like this:

"One upon a time there was a mother who had one daughter. The little girl always watched her mother cook. Her mother would get the fish and cut off the head and fry them in the pan. The little girl once asked her mother why are you frying the fish in that way? She told her that this is just how she saw her own mother do it and that this is of course the right way.

So when the little girl grew up and began to cook as well, her grandmother was present one day while she was preparing lunch. The grandmother looked at her, puzzled, because of the way she was frying the fish in the pan, and asked her why she is doing it like that? The girl told her grandmother, it's because I've always seen my mom do it like that and it's the right way! The grandmother then laughed and told her, but I've always did it that way only because back then we didn't have a big pan to fit the fish so I cut off its head, and you have a big pan now!"

Now that I'm talking about fish, I'm really hungry!

Madness!

A sudden reaction and an insane affection surfaces. Then, comes the thrill of being bold, of doing something that opposes your mind. The fear of rejection shortly follows and a slightly regretful mood. Maybe you've passed your limits and it's time to hit the ground again. But, what if you didn't try hard enough and that's why you always fail?

"I should have been crazier" *

Do we really understand failure?! Failing isn't being unsuccessful of getting what you desire. Failure is having regrets.

What is it that stops us from saying and doing what's really on our minds? Then, moving on to enjoy our lives without regrets.

"It's their loss anyway!"

We always tend to pick up negative bits and pieces of our experiences - important or not- that hold us back from growing our souls and expanding our minds.

We care too much about what people think of us and the rules society imposes. We're afraid to be different, to stand out, to be insane! Because their sanity is the norm! The following book talks exactly about that...

*Veronika Decides to Die is a novel by Paulo Coelho whose books and stories have always made a change in their readers’ mindset and way of living. It tells the story of 24 year old Veronika, who appears to have everything in life going for her, but who decides to kill herself because she lost her sense of purpose and forgot how it is to feel real happiness. This book is partly based on Coelho's experience in various mental institutions. It is based around the subject of “madness”. The idea of the message is that "collective madness is called sanity".

Many of you may have read the novel, but how many of you have really thought about the message that it offers behind its cover?  Part of the novel’s aim is to question our priorities in life and the way we carry everything out. It holds a challenge for us to be bold, stand out and be different or “crazy”. The story holds a whole new different definition of “madness”, one that is maybe different to the people around you, but very familiar within you.  It’s not the madness that harms; it’s rather the one that expands our minds to higher levels of understanding and happiness.

The story teaches us not to be afraid of being different, one of a kind, to grasp the true meaning of our lives to reach joy and do what we want rather than what we only need. It taps into the idea that not just because everyone around us thinks something is unusual or crazy, means that it is wrong or undoable.

When I first read the book, I completely felt related to it. I’ve always had a positive definition for madness. I always like to think and do anything in my life in a different “crazier” way and view everything from another angle. In doing so, I’ve seen how little things can bring joy to my life instead of fixating on routine and the “typical” way everyone around accepts. I proudly call myself mad! Now think, what is madness to you?