Harmony: Creative Stillness

These days, in the intense period after releasing my second book, I find that my creativity is being expressed as a meditation, involving patiently and lovingly holding a space of intense stillness, and seeing what is revealed next. (The four-day lockdown in Seattle’s snowstorm has happily complemented this!) But wait, being creative is about producing something, right?! So how can creativity be expressed as stillness?

In the last post on my series on Harmony, I wrote about balancing within, the feminine and masculine principles of creative stillness and creative action, respectively. Here, I attempt to elaborate on the feminine creative principle of stillness.

Harmony: Balancing the Masculine and Feminine within

Personally having transcended constructs of identity, whether professional, vocational, social, cultural, or personal, and living in ‘creative being-ness,’ it is poignant that an opportunity presented itself, to reflect on the astitva of two extraordinary queens of history from the Indian subcontinent  – poetess and saint Meerabai, and warrior queen Laxmibai – and their relevance to modern day existence. In its most rudimentary form, astitva is often taken to mean ‘identity.’ But, in truth the word has complex meanings from its Sanskrit lineage, also connoting ‘existence,’ ‘is-ness,’ ‘being-ness,’ and so on.

Meerabai, the queen-turned- poet saint who

Harmony: Action, not Activism

As we move into 2012, some have asked me what my resolutions are for the new year. I respond that I have a vision, not resolutions. The word+image vision that repeatedly surfaces when I “query” the Universe, is Harmony. (This immersive, sensory experience of a word+image vision surfacing when I query the Universe, began some time in 2009. In 2009 my answer was Creativity; in 2010, Loving Action; in 2011 I got Surrender. Each time, I have set out to work through the year, guided by the vision offered to me, adding in a new dimension when it arises next; this time it is Harmony.)

While I shall be exploring the vision of harmony throughout the year – through my creative works, teaching, service and relationships - one of the aspects that rises to the surface rightaway is my inclination for (creative) action instead of activism.

“Thrive!” is here!

So, after more than two years of conceptualizing, writing, stopping, starting, and then working intensely for the last seven months, my second book Thrive! Falling in Love with Life is here.

Writing a book is in itself, a daunting endeavor. Then make it a deeply personal and autobiographical one and you’ve more than doubled the challenge. Now add that it is a book of insights, in which you and your life are the source of understanding … well now you’ve got the nearly impossible on your hands. How does one do this with perspective, simply, authentically, courageously, creatively, vulnerably … lovingly?

Well, without further ado, here it is, my labor of love. I hope it stirs something in you. And whether it does or not, I hope you’ll tell someone for whom it might.

Musings of an artist in labor

My second book, Thrive! Falling in Love with Life, is about three weeks away from release, and right now, I am experiencing some pre-labor pains. Along with emotions ranging from anxiety and pains to thrill and joy, there is that ripe readiness of something ready to burst forth from the womb, unable to remain in utero any longer, because it is time for it to meet the world and take on a life of its own.

I am not a biological mother. Yet, every time I create anything, I cannot help but experience parallels between creation and procreation. Perhaps my feminine aspect gives me a special vantage point for seeing and experiencing these parallels.

Respect, don’t Fear

I am writing after a rather long hiatus, and this is because I am hard at work on my second book, Thrive! A Love Story with Life. In it, in the chapter Compassion, is an essay titled Love is not Fear. What about love’s close partner ‘respect’? Can respect exist where there is fear?

At this time last week, I was deeply immersed in the most transcendental event I experience annually – or shall I say pilgrimage – the Sur-Laya-Chhandotsav Shibir, a summit with Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj (Bade Guruji to me), and several of his senior disciples, including my Guruji Pandita Tripti Mukherjee. Over five incredible days, Bade Guruji and the other Acharya Gurus impart divine Indian classical music to approximately 150 students of the Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music, in an ashram tucked away in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. Having a living legend and maestro like Pandit Jasraj, a national treasure of India teaching us, is in itself an unbelievable experience.

A Note on Love

Love. The theme all around us this past month, popularized by Hallmark via Valentine’s Day. The subject of most books, plays and films from time immemorial. Yet, love continues to intrigue us, confuse us, elude us, and overpower us … and by thus being relegated to the domain of emotional life, it remains the most unharnessed power of human existence!

Since I was a little girl, I have loved openly and frequently, fiercely and fearlessly. The vulnerability of love was terrifying, and yet somehow, I knew innately that an open heart would keep me open to self-discovery and evolution. But it wasn’t until I encountered a love that stripped me of any and all remaining masks and left my soul bared in the mirror, that I stumbled into the depths of the meaning and power of love.

Being the [Banyan] Tree

[First Published in Courageous Creativity, December Issue, 2010; Also adaptated into an essay in my book Thrive! Falling in Love with Life, published Nov 1, 2011.]

A magical seed: singular talent and potential

Sometime in 2008, my friend and colleague Ana said to me, “You can’t be a seedling of a mango tree and turn into an apple tree, you know! You MUST grow into the mango tree!” Ana’s words were reminding me to reconnect with my essential truths, and examine if I was authentically nurturing my true potential. It’s taken me more than two years to do so, and 2010 has finally opened the door!

Infertile soil: the importance of fit

I had a fabulous, nearly decade-long career as a design strategist within a large, global design firm. I learned and taught many things, and had opportunities to shape entire courses – of the firm, of clients, and ultimately, of the human beings inhabiting the spaces we envisioned, designed and built together.

Yet, from day-one I felt like a gawky misfit. I couldn’t bring myself to sit at a cubicle desk for eight hours, playing with a mouse or staring at a computer screen, if I didn’t understand or participate in the bigger picture. I had limited patience for standing meetings or sitting meetings or status updates or state-of-the-firm meetings. I didn’t understand corporate politics,

Courageous Creativity Dec 2010

The December 2010 issue of Courageous Creativity is here! Through our six-month journey, we’ve often been asked if members of the Courageous Creativity team will also contribute stories. Inspired by this, we decided that the year end – a festive and rejuvenating time, and also one of taking stock – might be a good time for us to share insights from our own individual and intersecting paths this year. We hope you enjoy this retrospective issue, and we look forward to continuing our journey of courage, creativity and change with our readers and contributors in 2011.

A Modern Thanksgiving

This morning I awoke promptly at 6:30am to attend “Thanksgiving Day Yoga” at my close friend Scott’s inspiring Be Luminous Studio, and my morning started with the following words from my favorite business and marketing mind Seth Godin (mind you, I said business and marketing mind!):

“… A modern Thanksgiving would celebrate two things:

The people in our lives who give us the support and love we need to make a difference, and…

The opportunity to build something bigger than ourselves, something worth contributing. The ability to make connections, to lend a hand, to invent and create.”