The Anti-Office Syndrome

Monday Blues? Hate the work-week? Keep looking forward to the day ending even before it’s started? Day dreaming of earning money off a hillside café? You are suffering from “the Anti-office syndrome”

Let’s face it. For us middle class folks in the late 20’s, we would be looking at trying to make a living at least for the next 20 more years. Some of us will quit the corporate sham and start up something of their own – while a majority of us will continue with the drudgery for most of our adult life.

There is no escaping it. But what we don’t realize is a lot of the so-called drudgery that we call work is often brought upon us ourselves. We’re constantly measuring ourselves with standards set by others that eventually lead to the demise of the optimism that we had when we started working as freshers.

So here’s a ready (WIP) reckoner for all of us – one that reminds us daily wage earners that there is more to life, than an occasional work-day blues

1.      Don’t compare. One of the biggest mistakes that we make is making comparisons with other peers/superiors, anyone. What we tend to forget is that whatever it is that working for them does not mean that it would work for us too. Let others be. Focus on yourself and your work – figure out ways of doing it better in context of your own abilities. Comparing your salary, appraisal status, etc only disturbs you and you alone. It does not affect the other person you are trying so hard to bring down.

2.       Stay away from office politics. Often, most of the so-called office politics are created by us, stemming from the above stated point. However tempting it may seem, the more embroiled you get in it, the worse your work-day blues become.  Remember, the guy who’s doing well and is respected most is the one who focuses only on his work

3.       Respect. Everyone. At every position. It does not matter the number of experience you have or don’t have. Everyone working around deserves the same kind of respect that you demand for yourself

4.       Appreciate. It’s OK if it wasn't your idea that got through. Learn from the one that did and appreciate it’s owner. One pat on the back is not going to make you a loser.

5.       It’s not personal. Its just work. A part of your life. Not your whole life. Have other hobbies that help you take your mind off work. Help you detach and unwind. Constantly fretting over how to get into your boss’s good books is not going to land you that promotion. Similarly, not every comment made, every feedback given is aimed at you personally. Always remember to keep it within the realms of your professional life

6.       Have your priorities cleared. What is it that you are working for? What personal/ professional objectives do you want to achieve from your current role/profile, etc? having a clear objective will help you focus better and allow you to slide through the tough times at work. Because at the end of the day, what you do will matter, rest everything else will become incidental

These are just some ways of keeping the work blues at bay. What are some ways you stay focused on work?

Inspiration

Where do you go looking for inspiration?

Inside a book? At a mall? The lyrics of your favorite song? In your dysfunctional relationships? Alcohol? Random drunken conversation with strangers? Your past successes? Failures? A facebook status update or a twitter feed? Gazing into the dark night? Or walking aimlessly on a busy street? The internet? Google? Observing people or ignoring their existence? Questioning your motives? Or letting things be? God? Religion? Going back in the past? Or trying to control the future? Staying up in a sleepless night? Listening to deafening music? Inside a movie hall? Amidst a crisis? By being spontaneous? Or planning your whole life? Doing what others are busy imitating?

There is no real answer, is there?

A Little Piece of Heaven

In search of perfection and happy endings, how often do we look past the seemingly meaningless yet short abrupt run-ups to exhilarating highs?

I wonder how we survive then, if we keep giving these unknown alleys a miss? We’re so scared of what we will lose that we don’t stop to think of what we will probably experience if we did have the courage to walk into the dark and twisted side of the world.

Caught up in living, we forget about letting go. Being real and feeling, for once, what we really want to feel. It’s not that simple, but then, it wouldn’t be half as fun if it were.

We deserve that piece of heaven. Even if it lasts for a moment.

Free, is all you gotta be

We are born free & then as we grow up, we chain ourselves to self-imposed shackles. The need to be happy one time & sad the another, the desire to want someone & disown the other, attempts to trust & betray- all these emotions we build up to please others, ourselves, the society- unconsciously succeed in forcing us to become someone else.

Free. That is all that we need to be. Living for ourselves and doing what makes us happy. Free from the constant need to adjust to society & its norms.Doing what others think right.

Our time is limited. Do we really want to spend it inside a box?

Flashback of a Fool

Modern day tradition has it that we look back deep & hard at the year gone by & immediately convert it into a blog post. Sticking to convention, I am going to do the same. Having neglected my blog for over 2 months, it is only right that I give it the due attention it needs by a blog that sums up last year.
2010 can be easily summed up in one word- Change. It was the year that brought the most diverse experiences to me- some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant. I am attempting to put together all the things that defined 2010 for me - a year that was perhaps the turning point of my life.


1. Travel. 
2010 was the year of travel. From orlando, new york, to Ladakh, Mcleodganj to Chennai & Bombay- i had the best experiences of my life. I explored new cultures, cuisines, people & most importantly, myself. Travelling to all these fantastic places made me realise how little i know of this vast earth that we live in & how little time i have to see it all.
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2. The Other Side of People
The past year also opened up a whole new side of people i had never expected to see. I saw some people behave, act & change - ultimately transforming into this new person that i suddenly did not recognise. This did two things - made me realise how bad a judge i am of people & that in life, as we move along, we are really all alone. We have to fight our own battles and no matter how much we want to help the other person, we have to let them fight on their own. 

3. New Career, New goals
What earlier began as a casual conversation with @_Anshul, soon turned into what would shape my career- Digital marketing. I moved from a role in organizational development into digtal marketing - the shift was dramatic. I did not know (and probably still don’t!) how would i turn a hobby into a career - but i guess i’m learning along the way. The proverb - “Find something that you really like & you will never have to work a day in your life” seems to be coming true for me. I mana

4. Books
The past year brought back my reading habit. As per my Goodreads update, i read almost 30 books last year (quite an achievement for me!) and managed to build up a small library of my own. 
5. Discovering new friendships
I made new friends - people who simplify my life and make it so much more fun. 

Looking back, i don’t regret a day of my life last year & would probably do over everything exactly the same way. Looking ahead, I hope for 2011 to be bigger & better & simpler- a year that makes me happy in all that I do.

If you listen, you can hear it.
The city, it sings.
If you stand quietly, at the foot of the a garden, in the middle of a street, on the roof of a house.
It's clearest at night, when the sound cuts more sharply across the surface of things, when the song reaches out to a place inside you.
It's a wordless song, for the most, but it's a song all the same, and nobody hearing it could doubt what it sings. And the song sings the loudest when you pick out each note

- If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Jon McGregor

Anguish

The sky disunited
crying despicably
Trying hard to revive the dead
My vision clogs up as I try to look
The raindrops shatter my ears.

I cannot hear anything
in the secret whisper of the spirits
Decay surrounds me
fiendishly jeering
With you soaring up
and with me plumeting
deep underground

Who am I?

I make the noise to shake you up
I fake a smile to cheer you up
I'll lead the way to your disaster
I'm the one you can't run after

" The day would lie before us both, long not doubt, and uneventful, but fraught with a certain stillness, a dear tranquility we had not known before"

- Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

Jealousy

It's when you see that smile and wonder why it was'nt for you. When your hands brush your lips in dissappointment. When your mind is in a rage and your eyes refuse to look away.

You begin to fear and loathe.

....

You're a hero till you fall. You're then a battered victim without hope.

Looking Back and Ahead

2009 was the year of the highest of highs and somewhat lows.

It began with bidding farwell to a close friend, getting a promotion, a makeover and a roller coaster vacation. It was also the year of falling out of lust and diving deep into music and books. I let go of a lot of my inhibitions, yet was hesistant in going ahead with some of my ideas. I discovered new music, attempted to play the drums (of which i soon got bored and gave up), and made three new friends (which is quite an acheivement, btw!). I tried my hand at dating (again!), socialising and building my network of aquaintances. I did suceed in growing the number of people i know but failed miserably at socialising. I also was able to make work impersonal and had looked forward to being home on time. It was also the year i had most fun- without any worries.

The year brought with it some surprises, plenty of presents (thanks, Mint!) and a new found confidence. I discovered a whole new aspect about myself (which, at first shocked and then pleased me). The end of the year brought with it a delicious engagement which is currently adding a lot of fun to my hour long travel to work.

Looking back, of all the things i had sought out to do this year, most has been successfully accomplished. I think i have emerged a much stronger person and have gained some clarity about my future. What the next will bring, im damned curious to find out. But i guess i ahve already anticipated some of it.

2010 might not be any different but then again, it could also be the year of change. I hope it would be.

But all I know is: there’s something new this year.

All I know is there’s something new real near.

- Hello Saferide

wow!

Today was the day I unlearned everything. All that I thought I would learn about was put to test, validated and then popped right out the window.
Till today, I was unsure of what I was doing or wanted to do. but I guess, right now I'm the world's most clear headed person. Witnessing supreme empty headed pompousness and empty words have left just one lingering thought- is this what "the best" can do?
Today is the day I know for sure what I can do and I'll b damned if I don't go ahead and achieve it!

An excerpt from The World As I See It by Albert Einstein

I chanced upon this essay by Albert Einstein (we all know who HE is!) and this particular part of the essay sort of stuck on. It talks about how importance of life's mysteries and how it makes life even more interesting.

""The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

Braindead

For a long time i've been thinking about what i can post here that will amount to an acceptable "blog entry". My long metro rides have given birth to several superb ideas on what i could possibly write about- farting men, fashionless women, pretentious insensitive humans, the rush hour crowd, etc. However, the trouble with my grey cells is that they refuse to go beyond the idea. The thought of penning down an entire blog post is so revolting to the my otherwise active brain that they simply stop functioning the moment i get the paper out.

My brain dies just when i want it the most.

P.S: this post has no point to it. Just an example of how empty my mind feels right now.

December Wishlist

The year is about to end and i need something to look forward to in the next year. That's what resolutions are. They are those painful truths that keep knocking on our conscience when we stray.

Even if the resolutions i make are imaginary and maybe wont ever happen, I'll have something more than  mundane life to keep me going. So, instead of naming it 2010 wishlist (which i probably will create in some days), i have decided to call it my December Wishlist.

Here goes-

1. Navy blue hair

2. Scarlet nails

3. A clear head

4. A new emotion

5. A macbook

6.  New Obsession

7. Alternate choice

8.  Silence

Past Life

We live in accordance with our deep, driving desire.
It is this desire at the time of death
that determines what our next life is to be.
We will come back to earth to work
out the satisfaction of that desire.

- The Upanishads

" She followed slowly, taking a long time,
as though there were some obstacle in the way;
and yet: as though , once it was overcome,
she would be beyond all waking, and would fly."

- Going Blind, Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell)

....

Life's taken a full circle back and smacked me hard on my face!

It's quite unbelievable, actually. I'm still reeling from the shock. The unpredictable turn of events has definetly got me smashed up.

And for the time ever, i regret.

Oh Satan

Oh Satan,

Where did you go?

When the time was right

Why did'nt you show

The sweetness of evil

and the demolition of the angel

 

Oh Satan,

Why did you not come

to the burial ground

WHere we buried the good

and brought out the dead

 

Oh Satan,

Grant me one last wish

To hold them in my palm

Squeezing them alive

And while you feed on their souls

Let me drink their blood as wine