A light in the darkness

Religion is the guiding light. It isa sett of beliefs, practices, and systems that we have adopted from the belief and worship of a controlling force like God or a supernatural being. We all have our own religions and belief systems.  The world is full of all kinds of people, and understanding them is essential. Religion is something that talks about your personal journey with God. Does this really happen? I have found very few people who really impart the knowledge of religion as it is; the rest just preach their own needs and demands. I will quote a verse from the Bible that points out this: "Be on guard of the yeasts of Pharisees and Sadducees." Bible; Matt 16:6 Here, yeast of pharisees and sadduces means the teaching these people give you. If you see the story of Jesus, the common man had no problem with the teachings of Jesus; rather, it was the pharisees and sadducees (the people at high posts in the temple) who found it wrong and told all not to follow because they di

We all face stress and anxiety. Isn't it? Let me begin with an example. At times I do spend time without thinking, for which I am still being checked. So, one day I went to the mall, and there were those alluring long earrings that were calling me. However I tried to ignore it, it would show me its elegance, and I finally bought it. When I reached home, I quietly slipped in and put my earrings in my wardrobe. After a few months, when no one noticed it, I put it on and elegantly roamed about without getting a scolding.  We all plan and plot such escapes on a daily basis. This is where we have defense  mechanisms . Many of these defense mechanisms we use unconsciously in order to protect our ego and avoid uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and impulses. Sigmund Freud was the one to discuss them first. He pointed out 10 such mechanisms. One of them is projection, which we will be discussing in this section. These defense mechanisms are not just ten, but many .  Projection means a perso

I planned to write about this topic two days ago, but when I read it, it drew me to a research paper or a book where something was mentioned about happiness a few months ago when I was working on another project. The strength of that argument is very strong, and I think this place is apt to mention it, so I just could not override this urge of mine. I postponed this writing to search for that paper. When I found it this morning, my heart was on cloud nine. You know that gave me so much satisfaction and happiness that my words fail to express, and this makes the purpose of this segment even more meaningful. We should look for this kind of happiness. So without wasting time, let me take you to the research paper: Don't take an X for a U: Why laughter is not the best medicine but being more cheerful has many benefits.  Until I landed on this page, I also used to advocate for everyone to laugh. I have seen old people gather in the parks and intentionally induce laughter, and I thought

When I wrote this topic today, everything talked about imperfection. This mental battle between perfectionism and imperfectionism made me understand that we are at the wrong end. Let me clarify what I really mean by this. When you go to school, does your teacher expect you to master everything on day one? The answer is no. For this reason only, assessments are towards the end of the term. I remember my brother and sister joining the drawing class. They are good artists because they have worked on it for ages, and I never did, so I am still imperfect in it.  I still remember the days when I went to do machine embroidery. My teacher first said to make straight, concentric circles without stopping. The first day was, oh! Nothing was going well. Not even one line was straight. This is where we all are. We begin with imperfection. We were three people there, learning. All were my senior madams, and I was the junior most. We all practiced every alternate day. After a few days, my circles w

When I thought of writing about the game of materialism that plays in our lives, I was immediately drawn to one of the English stories I read, ' The umbrella man ' by Roald Dhal. For all who have forgotten this story, I will give a quick recap. This story talks about a girl and her mother who visited a dentist. While they were returning, it was raining, and they were waiting for a cab when they were approached by an old man. This man asked for a favor by requesting $20 as a taxi fare in lieu of the silk umbrella he had. The mother was usually suspicious of strangers. So she used her first golden rule: "The nicer the man seems to be, the more suspicious you must become." This old man was really nice because he was polite, well-spoken, and well-dressed. He was really a gentle man. She knew this because her mother used her second golden rule to access it: "You can always spot a gentleman by the shoes he wears." (This is the reason I picked this story.) The stor

Why am I talking about masks and labels? I do not wear one.  Let us explore. Sociology studies man in his social environment. It says that man has many roles to play when he is inhabiting this earth. He acts like a father, son, husband, manager, leader, etc. He is not just one person but many in one. What is this?  Let me introduce you to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and his take on the various roles we play. He says that we are not born as a blank slate where we can write anything. He introduced the concept of archetypes . Archetypes are a universal, inborn eidolon of a person, their behaviors and personalities that ultimately influence their behavior. In short, it is the innate human knowledge that is transferred from our ancestors. One such archetype is  "persona," which means mask. He elaborates, saying that persona is the way we present ourselves to the world, i.e., the innumerable social masks we don among various groups and situations. Over time, we get so stuck in th

We are all quite well versed in the benefits of information technology in our lives. Isn't it? So I will directly jump into how we hide from ourselves using information technology.  Planning to write about this topic drew me to one of the most famous practices I have heard: "When you get up in the morning, we should  see our palms first. " This had been our ritual for ages. Do you all remember this? I can hear a faint no.  Around fifteen years ago, when I had a dumb phone, my usual ritual was to get up, pray, meditate, reflect on the day, get energized, and begin the day. This practice has helped me a lot to keep myself calm and composed, and at the same time, it has always helped me to connect to myself. Without fail, I used to do this every day, but now my day begins with WhatsApp, Google, and Youtube. Even after checking messages, I do sit for prayer and meditation; my eyes are always on the phone, and just one popup and my heart beating, 'What's the message?&#