A journey towards the encore

– Part of Little things of joy series

What do you see in this picture? A bright image with beautiful mandalas overlapping each other? Observe this cheerful picture, try to focus on one mandala. Suddenly other ones start drawing your attention. It could become an overwhelming task to stare at the image for a longer duration.

Similar situation could come up in our mind when we are holding too many tasks and running parallel processes. Whether we choose them on our own or they are pushed on us due to home and work environments, the impact remains the same. This type of buzz in our mind could affect us in different ways unless we give a conscious thought on what’s happening and take proactive action on it.

In this blog, let us go through my friend’s experience with such a situation and how is she braving it with elan. This is an article under Little things of joy series which I have started to highlight the small activities that we could take up to help ourselves.

She has a tween daughter, works in a multinational company, lives with a loving family in a beautiful location. Things were going well, though a bit hectic sometimes. Usual things like a long to-do list at home and office, driving in a heavy traffic zone, a fitness regime and so on. Sometimes she felt a bit of agitation due to the changing scenario at the office but managed to carry on with whatever situation came up. Her experience in the corporate world for a long time gave her the strength to go on. So, things were pretty much normal, at least from outside.

A few months back, she had a slight cold and cough which continued for a long time. So, she consulted a doctor. The doctor was doing a routine checkup and suddenly noticed that her blood pressure (BP) was too high when compared to the normal range. She had no history of high BP or any other illness. Being a fitness freak who enjoyed the good health, she was in a shock to see those numbers. On top of it, the doctor advised her to undergo a series of medical tests.

However, she had to go through those tests to ensure her heart’s health. Reports were indicating a good health, but BP was not in in normal range. This made her think about herself and ask: what am I doing? What has led to this situation? How to regain my health?

A bit of introspection helped her to understand that work pressure and other responsibilities were exerting stress on her mind in-turn it was showing on her physical health. So, she had to find a path that could calm and soothe her mind. She had to refresh her mind with new things and thoughts. Then, she thought of her childhood dream of creating and composing music.

Having a senior certificate in Indian classical music and a passion for music could come handy in this endeavor. But she had no experience in composing tools or techniques.

She took the courage and decided to try out something new and face that change. Thought of creating something on her own, triggered the joy within her and motivated to take on all the challenges on the way.
So, here she stands now with her first ever composition! Meeting new people, talking to unknowns, collaborating with others apart from the home/office environment helped her to push her boundaries to explore and expand. She pushed back different layers of resistance and venturing out with the composition, Dawn to Dusk. Making an entry to the YouTube world with The encore.

By the way, her BP has returned to the normal range. For more than a month, she immersed herself in the project that gave her immense joy and that facilitated the healing. The creative process took over her thoughts and refreshed her mind which resulted in improved health!

What is the take away for us? Though everything seems to be going well, it is good to introspect occasionally. Take time to pause and explore yourself. In the busy life, we are in a hurry to rush and complete the tasks, duties and responsibilities. We prefer to explore different locations and opportunities. Maybe good to change the direction and explore inwards and think. Take care of yourself and take much-needed action to help yourself.

Here is a link to the music composed by Suhasini, about whom I have written in this blog. It is a fusion of ancient mantra from India with a touch of contemporary music. It is a relaxing music that could help you during mediation too. Please watch it and share your thoughts.

—Anitha KC