living among stars

Looking closely at the sky you will find that while it does have trillions of bright stars, there are also countless other not-so-bright spots up there. Stars announce their presence by beaming at us and we, of course, beam back by pointing at them, counting them, making shapes out of them, mapping our loved ones onto them, and this list can literally go on forever.

The not-so-bright spots, however, are more like simple dull specks, just lying in their place silently, nonexistent in the realm of our attention.

Ah! I get it. Now you will translate your awesome analogy onto people and then lecture us on how we should treat everyone equally. Right?

Treading on clichés much, am I?

Quite much, just like another one of those self-proclaimed life hackers.

How kind of you!! And with that you’ve brought us right to the point.

The way you just now shoved this online space and all its content aside under the ‘clichéd’ label is exactly how we undermine and disregard so many of our life’s perspectives and offerings. And this practice knows no bounds, no limits. It is not just about the objects in our lives, even the sincerest around us fall prey to its strokes.

Wow! Sounds like one hell of a super power, this ability!

Ha! Feeling funny, are we? The problem starts when we aspire to get something and once we finally get it, it just loses its shine in our eyes. Similar fate befalls the individuals around us. There is a time when we are hoping to get to know someone and have them in our lives and when this transpires, we just put them on the side to sit with other such once-loved-but-now-boring 'possessions'.

Yes, it is that easy for us to diminish a shining star of our life to nothing more than a tiny speck.

Boy, is that some exaggeration or what?! You are so not writing this in a sane state. How can you not see that all of this defines the very spirit of progression? We set ourselves a goal, work hard to get it and once we do there’s a new goal waiting to take its place. A new challenge to be triumphed awaits us. Or, for the sake of your analogy, we have a new star to be conquered.

A new star to be put off, you mean. Now listen mate, there is nothing wrong with setting goals and moving on and progressing. These are all essentials of a good living. What is not good for living, though, is piling up stuff just for the heck of it, driven by some whim, some crazy impulse. Even more worse is going around with the same approach towards individuals. And trust me, ‘objectifying’ people becomes second nature once we set out on this path. Because, as you so simply put it, we all want to ‘progress.’

Okay smart pants, what’s your idea of moving ahead then? What would you have us do instead?

Well, it’s no rocket science what I am trying to voice here. As humans, the wish to reach out to new people, have new possessions and to want more comes naturally to us. How we treat them later on, however, is our choice – we could either opt for humility, gratitude, and respect or turn our god mode on for everything that we own, including people, and trample upon their lives.

Hmmm…

Let me make it simpler. Answer the following for yourself.

I want to spend my life among:
(a) Shinning stars.
(b) Dull specks.

I hope you chose (a). If yes, then do not stress on owning everyone and everything. Be wise in choosing the people around you. Love them, value them. Let them flourish in their own unique ways. Let them shine. And you will then see your own self shining even brighter, together with them. For possessions, choose even more wisely. Don’t stack stuff, rather try to resonate with what you have. Everything has a soul. Look to reach out and connect with that very soul – not with the glitter of newness.

In case you chose the latter (seriously?!), well, better get yourself a lasting supply of emergency lights ‘coz you, my friend, are setting out on a path of one long, lost, dark life!

Happy living!