Hello there!
Welcome to the 36th edition of ‘The Lighthouse’!
What I’m sharing with you today is an edited version from my everyday journal. A few people reached out to me over Twitter and e-mail asking me what my journal entries look like or what is it that I’m telling myself. They’re mostly stuff like this. Writing has helped me grapple with thoughts and ideas that I have held for decades and examine them critically, and/ or question them objectively. Sometimes I’m able to observe where things went wrong, and in most cases, I’m left with more questions than answers.
Writing for me has been a medium to observe my thoughts. It is like letting a glass of muddy water standstill. Minutes later, the mud settles down. Writing for me is that process of settling down. The water may not be crystal clear, but at least it helps me see the water separate from the mud.
There are a few other aspects of how writing has helped me tremendously in the past months. I’ll share them with you in one of the upcoming editions, and I’d love to hear what you have to say about your own experience - of, and from writing.
2020 is drawing to a close, and I’m indebted to all of you for your constant support and encouragement.
Let’s dig in.
A Prayer - Of Abundance
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
Like most people, I was conditioned to believe that there is a God who decides on right and wrong. When you are right, a God will answer your prayers, and when you're wrong - until you seek forgiveness - no one will pay heed to your prayers.
On these lines, every waking moment in circa 1999 and 2000, I prayed. I prayed to God to forgive me for every sin/ mistake I may have committed, knowingly or unknowingly. I prayed to God to heal my mother. Instead, what happened was the exact opposite. And so, 15 years of conditioning went down the drain.
Since then, I prayed to God to grant me the strength to go through difficult times. There was no point in praying to avoid difficult times or praying for a generous grant of my wishes. Life would keep throwing curveballs, and what I could pray for was the resilience to deal with them. This was going to be the approach for the next 20 years.
For the past few months, I've been toying with the logic behind these approaches. Somewhere, something felt amiss. It took me weeks to put my finger on it. During one of my journaling sessions, I was able to figure out their origins faintly. It occurred to me that both these approaches took roots from a principle of scarcity. It is as though there is a scarcity of grants and you're trying to make sure that you're the first in line to have your wish granted.
What if we take the opposite approach?
One of infinite abundance?
A prayer of thanks?
For everything that we have been granted, and for everything that we will be blessed in the future?
By offering a prayer of thanks and abundance, we are crossing a bridge. From the banks of 'if it is possible' to the banks of 'when it is possible'.
I believe that in abundance, there is space for everything and happiness for everyone.
Here’s some interesting stuff I came across last week:
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov - Rated by Issac himself as one of his best works, this short story will move you and fascinate you. Grab your favourite beverage and be ready for a trip of your lifetime. “Man's last mind paused before fusion, looking over a space that included nothing but the dregs of one last dark star and nothing besides but incredibly thin matter, agitated randomly by the tag ends of heat wearing out, asymptotically, to the absolute zero. Man said, "AC, is this the end? Can this chaos not be reversed into the Universe once more? Can that not be done?. AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."”
Tears by Kevin Simler: “Emotions (and their expressions) aren't mere side-effects of something else — they're purposeful unto themselves. They evolved because they put our brains and bodies (technically, those of our ancestors) into a locally-optimal state for dealing with specific problems or circumstances. If evolution devised to make our bodies do something, then the action is unlikely to be a meaningless side effect. There has to be a point to it (tears/ crying).”
How to Understand Things by Nabeel Qureshi: “I concluded that what we call 'intelligence' is as much about virtues such as honesty, integrity, and bravery, as it is about 'raw intellect’.Intelligent people simply aren’t willing to accept answers that they don’t understand — no matter how many other people try to convince them of it, or how many other people believe it, if they aren’t able to convince themselves of it, they won’t accept it.”… “It’s also so easy to think that you understand something, when you actually don’t. So even figuring out whether you understand something or not requires you to attack the thing from multiple angles and test your own understanding.”
A thought I’m ruminating on:
“The only true law is that which leads to freedom.” ~ Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Till next weekend, take care.
Cheers,
Prashanth. 🙏🏻
If you would like to discuss anything I’ve written about and shared, please reach out to me by replying to this email or sending a direct message on Twitter 🐦 @iam__prashanth. The tribe there is 1800+ members and continues to grow.
Suppose you’re reading this because someone shared this newsletter with you or you clicked a link somewhere, welcome! Please subscribe to receive future updates. Thanks for your love and support!