It's annoying to stare endlessly at the keyboard for minutes and sometimes even hours at a stretch and not have a single word typed out on the ominous blank white screen. And then you reach this almost uber-epiphanic minute where the words start flowing like a water fall sprouting out of an extrinsic vacuum. And then the dreaded void strikes again.
Changing tracks, a few years ago, I came across a Foucault pendulum at IUCAA, ( The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics) at Pune University, a gorgeous place with an even more gorgeous planetarium and observatory. A place where I 'assumed' I was destined to end up and at that point in time wanted to too, but i guess Purdue, not Pune University was the predetermined constellation in the cosmos of my life.
Coming back to the Foucault pendulum, it is a device used to determine the Earth's rotation. This device swings freely in what seems a quasi-moving plane which indicates the rotation of the earth throughout the 24 hour period. But in fact the directional plane of the pendulum is fixed in space while the earth rotates around it. I couldn't help but use this device as a metaphor for the rotation of our life. So engrossed in the trivialities of life, I believe humans are like the pendulum, swinging in one constant direction, extremely apprehensive of change, failing to notice the beautiful world as it whirligigs around us. And then the epiphany strikes, that we have settled into a mediocrity filled existence. But it is too late, for the eleventh hour of life arrived and now, is long gone. We fall into a pendulum's rut.
A periodical change in direction, however small the transition, is imperative to make living life a worthy and gratifying experience. Change your wardrobe, change the route you take to class, try a different drink instead of your regular decaf black coffee, try a novelty cuisine, get a new haircut or color, or even read a book belonging to a genre you wouldn't think of reading and notice the wonders a humble change can make.
A recent quote that i came across, "Love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it." I believe that change is the absolute mantra of a fulfilling life. Even a short 3 day vacation, away from our daily surroundings, leaves one feeling refreshed and ready to face one's daily chores. Embrace anything that changes the frequency and amplitude of your actuality and prevents it from falling into humdrum mediocrity.
