An FB friend Susan Marie presented to me this above pic. And it was really hard to choose which color should I be. Once again my imagination started to run wild and high. And the result were the following words….
Which color am I?
Oh! If I was color red
I would be a rose
Or even a valentine heart
that lives so close
to every loving heart.
Or maybe a coral
Standing in oceans deep
Eversince life took a leap.
Maybe I was green
So live and so living
so refreshing, so giving
Like a new leaf of spring.
Or innocent grasshoppers
That never ever sting.
What if I was a blue
With all it’s shades and hues
So vast as the sky
where birds of imagination fly
So wild and so high.
Or even a sapphire in a ring
Seeing who’s beauty, all would sigh!
I think I would be an orange.
So ‘hot’ and bright
Like the rays of sunlight.
Key to ‘life’ that holds
Or maybe a garland of marigold
With flowers fresh and pure
Making God’s haute couture.
And if I was a yellow
Of the tiny, soft , cuddly chick
Chi chiing, with dozen other fellows.
Or maybe a Topaz stone that sticks
Into a ring, with it’s beauty revealed.
I could even be an endless mustard field.
Wow! I sure should be purple
And violets being my grandeur and glory
With poets wishing to tell my splendid story
Or maybe I was from the Amethyst stock
With other jealous gems turning into a rock.
And I could even be a purple Iris flower
Standing high in a pot, like a proud star.
Yes I think I should be a rainbow
Made up of colors all ‘the noble seven’.
Colors lined up so immaculately in a row.
Stretching from horizon upto the Heaven
And then they all so neatly, mix within me
Standing for PEACE, they turn into a white
Bundled together, as UNITED they would be.
Erasing all the differences, great or slight.
P.S. Thank you again Sue for inciting me to write this 🙂
I seriously think
we should develop
bombs from crayons
That blast into smilieys
as our next weapon-
of mass ‘construction’.
A color bomb,
a beauty bomb.
Launched from –
a happiness jet
or a unity drone,
as a peace missile.
And each time
a conflict erupts
we would drop one.
It would explode
high in the air
with a bang of hope
and send hundreds
or thousands,
even millions,
of smileys.
Raining down on earth
with splashes of colorful
smiles, smiles, just smiles
rioting up in the air.
And we wouldn’t go cheap,
not little boxes of eight.
Boxes of sixty-four,
maybe hundreds
even million crayons
of colors, colors, just colors
to smudge the smiley smiles
With silver and gold and copper,
magenta and peach and lime,
amber and umber and all the rest,
Colors of love, love, just love.
Reaching down on earth
with colourful stunning smiles.
And people will cheer
laugh, giggle, go hysterical.
Get funny looks on faces
the teary eyes shall twinkle.
With hopes embedded in dimples,
Peace sparkling from their teeth
And all that one will see
as far as eyes can reach
Is bliss, bliss, and just bliss.
Soft in the background
there would be an orchestra
playing a symphony
The musical notes
wrecking havoc
of peace and harmony
spilling magic in the air.
The beaming smilieys,
shall rock and roll
With hands in hand,
They’ll dance, dance, dance
in ecstasy insane.
All through the dark night
Until the dawn of ‘sanity’
awakens this asinine,
‘sleeping’ mankind.
( Inspired by colors & smiles stolen from Holi, & from a quote by Robert Fulghum, with some words taken from it).
“The mountains, rivers, earth, grasses, trees, and forests are always emanating a subtle, precious light, day and night, always emanating a subtle, precious sound, demonstrating and expounding to all people the unsurpassed ultimate truth”
“I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability”.
~Oscar Wilde
“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”
~Mohandas Gandhi
“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”
~Wendell Berry
Empathy: 1903, translation of Ger. Einfühlung (from ein “in” + Fühlung “feeling”), coined 1858 by Ger. philosopher Rudolf Lotze (1817-81)from Gk. empatheia “passion,” from en- “in” + pathos “feeling
Definitons “ A complex form of psychological inference in which observation, memory, knowledge, and reasoning are combined to yield insights into the thoughts and feelings of others.”
Saying it simply: The ability to put oneself into the mental shoes of another person to understand his/her emotions and feelings.~ Alvin Goldman.
What’s the difference? Sympathy: Oh! I’m so sorry. I wish it never happened. Emotional Contagion: Oh! Your pain makes me cry too. Pity: Poor you. You really need to be helped. EMPATHY: I know exactly how it feels to be in this situation. Apathy: Who cares? Or just ignore quietly on what happened.
Development of Empathy:
-Feelings of empathy begin normally at the age of 2. Common for toddlers to comfort each other in distress—by hugging, smooching or even by words.
-By the ages of 7 and 12 appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain(.researchers at the University of Chicago who used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
-There are three stages of Empathetic Maturity (Olsen, 2001)
Stage 1: Primitive pattern as in toddlers. Not in Adults.
Stage 2: The rationale that empathetic behaviousr is valid for everyone.
Stage 3:Mutuality occurs prior to any judgement about the person’s behaviour.
Why is it that even when empathy is a natural instinct some of us fail to act with empathy?
The extent of empathy varies. Cognitive empathy: Simply knowing how others feel and what they are going through. Emotional Empathy:When you actually feel physically within you what others must be feeling as if it was contagious. Compassionate empathy: The feeling that not only makes us feel their pain but spontaneously moves us to help if need be
Unfortunately most of us are limited to cognitive empathy which lacks motivational strength and tends to be highly selective, which in practical terms amounts to apathy in general.
Is empathy exclusively a ‘human trait?
No! All primates, even rodents and dolphis have been studied to have empathy.
Why need empathy
Empathy is the key element in humans to embrace the The Golden Rule (One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself ).
Empathy is the foundation of all Human Rights and the Unity of all mankind..
How to help oneself become more empathetic?
Batson and colleagues investigated the affective consequences of different perspective-taking instructions when participants listened to a story about Katie Banks, a young college student struggling with her life after the death of her parents.This study demonstrated that different instructions had distinct effects on how participants perceived the target’s situation. Notably, participants imagining themselves to be in Katie’s place showed stronger signs of discomfort and personal distress than participants focusing on the target’s responses and feelings (imagine other), or as participants instructed to take on an objective, detached point of view. Conclusion: Imagine yourself in the situation to feel more motivated and get proactive.
Quote: The good enough mother, owing to her deep empathy with her infant, reflects in her face his feelings; this is why he sees himself in her face as if in a mirror and finds himself as he sees himself in her. The not good enough mother fails to reflect the infant’s feelings in her face because she is too preoccupied with her own concerns, such as her worries over whether she is doing right by her child, her anxiety that she might fail him.
by,
Bruno Bettelheim (20th century), Austrian-U.S. child psychologist. A Good Enough Parent, ch. 1 (1987).
Watch this skype laughter chain. Beware, you could end up being the last ring in the chain of laughter…
Some more reminders of what a laugh is:
*A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around. ~Carolyn Birmingham
HUMANITY has unquestionably one really effective weapon—LAUGHTER.
Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution—these can lift at a colossal humbug—push it a little—weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
~ Mark Twain
The old man laughed loud and joyously, shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot,
and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a man’s pocket,
because it cut down the doctor’s bills like everything.
~ “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
What is laughter?
-It is a form of internal jogging.
-It moves internal organs around.
-It is cheap medicine and enhances respiration.
-It ignites a fire within the pit of the belly.
-It is one mighty scarce thing that heals all hurts.
-It is a spark that ignites and awakens one’s being.
-It is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
-It is God’s hand on the shoulder of a troubled world.
Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl.” — Mevlana Rumi
I see
It’s hunger
It’s cold
It’s homelessness
It’s radiation
I feel
It’s tough
It’s rough
It’s uncertain
It’s Hell
I watch
You’re calm
You’re brave
You’re patient
You’re resilient
I know
You’ll survive
You’ll overcome
You’ll beat it
You’ll thrive
Yes I know,
You’ll thrive
Once again.
Yes you will.
I salute the mothers, the children, the old and the young men of Japan.
The whole world and I stand with you in this hour of despair.
I wish we learn the patience and perseverance from you, my friends.
Tears rolled down when I heard say a BBC correspondent from Japan:
“When the food is distributed they patiently wait. All they get is half a bowl of rice. Nobody complains. Incredible calm. This is First World Japan.”
Copy-Pasting this post from Facebook:
10 things to learn from Japan
by Ahang Rabbani on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 6:27am
1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.
2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.
4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?
7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins.No silly report Only calm reportage.
10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly
Bavra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna
Bavre Se Mann, Ki Dekho Bavri Hain Baatein
Bavri Se Dhadkaane Hain, Bavri Hain Saansen
Bavri Si Karwaton Se, Nindiya Door Bhaage
Bavre Se Nain Chaahe, Bavre Jharokhon Se, Bavre Nazaron Ko Takna.
Bavra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna
Bavre Se Is Jahan Main Bavra Ek Saath Ho
Is Sayani Bheed Main Bas Haathon Mein Tera Haath Ho
Bavri Si Dhun Ho Koi, Bavra Ek Raag Ho
Bavre Se Pair Chahen, Baavron Tarano Ke, Bavre Se Bol Pe Thirakna.
Bavra Mann, Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna
Bavra Sa Ho Andhera, Bavri Khamoshiyan
Thartharati Low Ho Maddham, Bavri Madhoshiyan
Bavra Ek Ghooghta Chahe, Haule Haule Bin Bataye, Bavre Se Mukhde Se Sarakana,
Bavra Mann, Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna
I am a Goddess
A bearer of your continuity
An embodiment of sacrifice
A symbol of love and compassion
I am a mother
A mirror of your emotions
An answer to your worries
An umbilical cord of your needs
I am a wife
A torchbearer of your love
A pinch of spice in your life
A house keeper of your heart
I am a friend
A keeper of your secrets
A shoulder for your cries
A cool breeze in your life
I am a sister
A receiving end of your pranks
A quarrelsome and doting pal
A buddy who annoys yet cares.
I am a daughter
A bundle of your joy
A twinkle of your eyes
A reason for your smiles
I am a daughter, a sister and a friend
Yet you,
Strangulate me in the womb
Mourn me on my birth
Feed me on leftovers
Raise me up as a burden
Exclude me from inheritance
I am a wife, a mother and a Goddess:
Yet you ,
Objectify my body and my spirits
Clip my wings and my freedom
Burn my face and my dreams
Rape me and my ambitions
Kill me and my aspirations.
And yet, so I remain
Half your world.
No, not the better half,
I am the ailing half,
The crying half
The other half.
IlmanaFasih
March 8, 2011
PS: Special thanks to Fatima for teaching me the nuances of drawing a face.
It’s all about creativity and imagination. It just needs to be nurtured and watered like flowers. And the creativity shall bloom into beautiful flowers.
Blind to Bounds 
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