Maybe it wasn't your fault, maybe
it wasn't mine either.
Maybe, one day, the dress will fit,
and it won't lie crumpled
in a corner of the cupboard.
Maybe, one day, I'll fit in
with your crowd, and you'll
learn to leave me alone at times.
Maybe, one day, the coffee
will taste better, and the sports
pages will make more sense.
Maybe, like you said, the sky
is indeed schizophrenic,
just like all of us.
Or maybe, like I said, he can't
decide what colours to wear,
just like the rest of us.
Maybe, like you said, every door
is to be opened, looked inside,
you never know what you'll discover.
Or maybe, like I said, some doors
are kept closed for a reason,
sometimes you shouldn't discover.
Maybe, one day, we'll go walking
and I'll fall in step with you,
an unforced rhythm to our strides.
Maybe, one day, I'll remember
the important dates, and you'll
not forget the important words.
Maybe, one day, we'll dream
the same dream and decide
to watch the same channels.
Until then, let's keep trying.
About Me
- musafir
- "A man is the history of his breaths and thoughts, acts, atoms and wounds, love, indifference, and dislike; also of his race and nation, the soil that fed him and his forebears, the stones and sands of his familiar places, long-silenced battles and struggles of conscience, of the smiles of girls and the slow utterance of old women, of accidents and the gradual action of inexorable law, of all this and something else too, a single flame which in every way obeys the laws that pertain to Fire itself, and yet is lit and put out from one moment to the next, and can never be relumed in the whole waste of time to come." Possession by A.S. Byatt
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15 comments:
"Until then, let's keep trying. "
sometimes its just not worth trying. Giving up makes more sense.
But then again, not always.
Good one. :-)
-Soliloquist
hmmm
that was just....... WOW!
Soliloquist
I don't know. These are issues I grapple with every day when it coems to a whole lot of things. When do you say enough? When is it worth to keep trying? When you do say enough, does that mean turning your back forever or just taking a break? When you continue to try, how do you keep your doubts and demons at bay?
Like I said, I don't know. The philosophy at the moment is to try and make things work. Giving up and running away is not an option. I've realized it soon becomes a habit with me.
anonymous
hmmm
shooting star
Oh no, that was not intended effect! Anyway, thanks for saying that. Care to elaborate?
Is it just me who is reminded of..
"It is better to have loved and lost than be caught up with one person for the rest of the life'...
and..
"If you fail once. Try Again. If you fail twice. Try again. If you fail the third time just give up. No point making a bloody fool of your self!".
I know I know...there goes up in flames my career of a counsellor I guess...
I don't know, I would rather negotiate reality and find out for myself.
I could say, "Rome wasn't built in a day", "Losers quit" etc but that would merely prove how clever I am to come up with such witty quotes, and not help me in any other useful way. I would rather let experience have the final say.
The point is, those sayings are all "big-picture"-ish and they lose out on the specifics which is ultimately what human experience is all about. You need to have loved and lost, but then what metrics would you apply to know you have "loved" in the first place, and then how would you judge when it's right to lose? These are subjective, and there are no rules here. And again, about giving up after the third time, how can you be sure about the number of attempts? Is there a precedent to things like these? And what about second chances? Or tenth chances? Giving up, I feel, is merely a disguise for cynicism. There is a time when you need to give up and turn cynical, yes, but that is a matter of personal choice.
On the other hand, I do understand that there is a limit after which pursuing things becomes foolhardy. But then again, these are not things that can be conjectured about. Especially using proverbs.
On an unrelated note, you know, Edison would have loved you ...
Alrighty then..let me pick up the gauntlet...
The underlying motif in quoting proverbs (well bon mots dont count! ) or cliched sayings to bolster up a particular viewpoint in an argument is the personal value system of the author who makes use of it.
Incidentally we are questioning the whole need of the 'value system'. With such an outlook the proverbs perse becomes redundant. As you rightly pointed out depending on my fancies having no 'concrete' value system per se I can equally choose one proverb over the other...
Remember this brilliant Calvin quote whose gist goes...
“Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles.”
Yes ofcourse I have the existentialist choice to make and take responsibility for the repercussions that are inevitably going to occur but the issue here is a much bigger and pertinent one...
1) On what value system do I 'make' my choice?
2) Even If I do 'indeed' make a choice how do I deal with the fact that I 'know' the alternatives in case of equally plausible paths?
Yes indeed this might sound a tab bit nihilistic but I havent found anything to combat it...or as Nietzsche did I have to "create" my own "overman". There are many questions I would have loved to ask Nietzsche...
oh yes..'human experience'...that's the last resort...
TMWWT (you really should pick a shorter name)
I'm going to quote you and then I'm going to quote myself.
Quote from your latest comment -
"1) On what value system do I 'make' my choice?
2) Even If I do 'indeed' make a choice how do I deal with the fact that I 'know' the alternatives in case of equally plausible paths?"
Quote from my reply to Soliloquist (just scroll above) -
"These are issues I grapple with every day when it coems [sic] to a whole lot of things. When do you say enough? When is it worth to keep trying? When you do say enough, does that mean turning your back forever or just taking a break? When you continue to try, how do you keep your doubts and demons at bay?"
To me, it feels like you're agreeing with me, so I'll leave it at that.
Now coming to the bit about the "last resort" thing, I was having dinner yesterday -- curd rice -- and the guy next asks me, "Is that good?"
So, now, of course, what choices do I have -
1) Quote a universal, objective specification about how curd rice should look, feel, smell, taste, compare it with what laid in front of me, and pronounce a judgment.
2) Spend some time with the guy, understand what he means by "good", learn what standards he uses to judge curd rice, whether he likes it cold like me, whether he likes it a little sour like me, and so on, and then give him an answer.
3) Compare the quality of the curd rice I was eating with the standards that I feel "good" curd rice should possess, and then give him an answer.
Now I like to think of myself as pragamtical, idealistic and whimsical (which means Watterson can take those lines of his and stuff them up Hobbes's furry ass, if he has one, that is) and so I decided to make the best of the answers available, at the same time refuse to compromise on the correctness of my answer, and bring my own whimsical notions about curd rice into the picture. So what did I say?
"It feels good to me. I like it a lot."
Of course, you're darned right when you say human experience is the last resort, because all theories fail at some point or the other.
Yup with respect to the seemingly equally plausible paths I agree with you..hence the usage of "we".
Well with respect to the curd rice analogy it would largely depend on the person who asks the qn..
I would choose option 1) if the eprson thinking disposition is similar to mine...
option 2) If I havent gauged the person totally yet but think he/she might be worth the shot..
option 3) for the rest of the world...
If not Edison atleast Watterson would be proud of me...
Well... Was reading through the curd rice analogy....
Wondered what I would answer...
Maybe, I would just offer the dude a helping, and let him judge for himself..
Or better still, answer with my mouthfull.. (all the sputtering would send the guy miles away..)
;-)
As for the subject of giving up... I feel that sometimes, letting it go,gives so much relief... At some others, plodding on provides unmatched thrill and offers an all together new insight into oneself.... End of the day, its your equinamity with your self that counts and guides all your decisions... If at all, there is any hard and fast rule about it, its that of the self.
-Soliloquist
Got inspired .... check out my blog ;-)
-Soliloquist
TMWWT
Of course, every writer loves being quoted.
Soliloquist
Checked out your blog. Duly commented :)
U guys talk more in the comments section than the posts. Think some day you should put up a post which just has these conversations :)
I am not going to give my interpretation or my take but just that.. leave it to the guy to decide what he wants to do with the situation.. 'coz the point where one gives up could be the beginning for someone else :P
mebbe u shud look at another side.. of being forced to give up rather than choosing. could be an interesting perspective.
lucky
:) - yeah, the comments get pretty interesting at times. Especially when you have people like The Soliloquist and TMWWT reading your blog. Of course, I do enjoy the conversations.
About what you said, about being forced to give up rather than choosing, I don't know how that's possible. Maybe it's because I've never been forced to give up on anything.
one of the best poems i've ever read....
-sg
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