Today listening to NPR program about music, dads, family, education- Â triggered a lot of feelings from my past. I was sitting there in garage till the program finished. I am not in a great mood to write a lot about it as of now but I always thought 2 songs summarized it very well.
1. My childhood – can be summarized in Alanis’s song called Perfect
2. My education – can be summarized with Pink Floyd’s song called Another brick in the wall
I have come to believe that ideas are everywhere. I think our problem solving minds are always churning away ideas – some are really cool and some are not so much. But I think we are always making them. I also believe that by some cosmic design every time there is a cool idea that comes to you, it’s also given to some 7+ other people on the planet. It’s like our minds are these attraction points for ideas and when we have a good idea – just remember that it was also given to some other people at the same time.
So, ideas are everywhere – but that doesn’t mean shit. What matters is implementation. Doesn’t need to be perfect or anything but any implementation is a right direction. You see all these ideas are nothing but potential for something great and they want to use us to express themselves. If we don’t honor them with implementation – they would seek someone who would.
I learned this lesson the hard way. I have a notebook where I write down all the cool ideas I think would be good. I sat on it for way too long. Last year I had this very cool idea about a mac app which would be like a network point for everything to connect how you read, bookmark, archive and share any kind of documents, ideas, links etc. I made a small plan and worked with my friend Kamal to get the rough version sorted out. But after 0.1 version life got busier and I put a halt on it. I never visited it. Yesterday I was browsing App Store and I came across like 5 apps which do the same. These apps didn’t exist last year and now they are selling for $15 a piece. Wow.
What a waste of time and energy if you don’t follow up with your ideas. I was aiming perfection and the rough edges on my 0.1 version didn’t inspire me much and I lost a whole lot opportunity to have my own app out there. Sorry Kamal – we could have been rich!
So, having a great idea means nothing. It just means that you are one of the chosen few that Universe trusts in to make that idea happen and it’s a big responsibility from there on to make it happen. It doesn’t need to be perfect – just good enough and shipped out.
Sahana turned 1 this week. We both made it as parents so far. She has been very different in the past couple of months. Especially after the visit to India. She is more active and she has grown so fast and so much. Only today she started to stand up by herself. It’s just fascinating to watch her do that. It takes everything in her to stand up and she loves it so much. Love from our families and friends have kept us sane with parenting so far and we enjoy every moment with Kunjus.
Last night was Shivarathri – I took Sahana to temple. It was very auspicious. Just sitting there among those chants and abhishekams – it was divinely peaceful. I felt like I didn’t need anything else. Shiva is a God signifying the “shivam” nature within us – the pure spirit that lays in us. When you seek Shiva – you seek nothing else other than this purity. It was just blissful to sit there for 20 mins and watch Sahana trying to stand up and playing.
I did think of staying up late as much as possible as one is supposed to stay awake all night and spend time in Dhyanam. I was knocked out by 10. I think my body never got reset from my recent India trip. I was thinking of 8 years back when I was in NY and part of Swami group. I was able to sit in Bhajans all night. Oh my, how times have changed. It’s good to know the feelings of devotion and piety are still the same but more intense – mentally.
Here is a video of Sahana stepping down on a stair.
Here is a picture of her standing by herself.
akbar's blog 