I had a promise to keep to myself - that
I'd write an article every month. And I kept at it initially. It could have a
little to do with the excitement at start of something and urge to keep up to a
promise. However, it fizzled out after the first few articles. Not because
writing lost its charm or because I didn't want to write. I just didn’t
know what to write. I thought of things, started writing and ended it as abruptly
as I had begun. This continued until today.
I was working late. Amongst the last 4-5
people on the floor, most of whom I could not even see around me. Kicking myself mentally for being the lowly creature still stuck in office, I happened to
glance outside my roman window (yes I have that lucky seat right next to the
huuuuge window! Jealous much?) It was one of those nights when you cannot see a
single twinkling star. It was a pitch dark night. But this night was flaunting
a perfectly round, pearl white moon. I stared at it transfixed. The silent
floor magnifies each sound. But while I stared at this heavenly sight, the
chugging of the printer, ping of messages, call for attention from the
continuous downpour of emails – all were put on mute in the background. All I
could see was the pitch dark & pearl white moon with its shades of grey.
Right there, in the midst of all the
activity and the urgency, my mind just ran away. It did not matter where I was
physically, my mind was definitely somewhere else. Some place quiet. Some place
calm. As I much as I wanted to stay put, I had to pull myself back to the
uninviting desk and dull gaze of the laptop. But I did one thing before I gazed
away. I walked up to the window, looked at ‘that’ sight again, stared at it
with all my concentration and then I closed my eyes. I drew a mental picture –
a huge window, pitch black sky, not a single star but a HUGE white moon –
completely round showing off its patches of grey like an accomplished art work.
I opened my eyes and walked away to face the drudgery of work.
That picture is my escape. When this world
and its ways become over bearing, I seek solace from those few seconds. When I
re-work that picture in my mind, for that time everything ceases to exist. I
become my happy content self. Nothing irks me, irritates or upsets me. Those
few seconds are just pure bliss.
Find yourself such a picture. It could be
anything – a warm hug, a walk in the rain with a rainbow umbrella over your
head, a rocking chair on the verandah of a house sitting in the shadow of huge
tree with chirping birds, a sunrise over the mountains, a sunset on the beach,
a roll on the grass with your dog, the laugh of a loved one. Something.
Anything. Don’t click a picture of it. Paint a picture of it. In your mind. It
is for your consumption only. It is YOUR escape when you get that overwhelming
urge to run away.
