Apr 9
Quotes of the week
Pausing in the company of words
Pausing in the company of words can be soothing and energizing at the same time. Pause, read, reflect, pause, breathe and move forward.
I’ll start with a quote from Pihkal. Somehow the book remained on my Kindle for almost a year and then I devoured it on a long flight. If you’ve a hint of interest in altered states of mind, psychedelics and transcendence . If I’ve lost you at ‘psychedelics’, there’s still hope: this book would be a great read for any story lovers with an open mind, as the human stories are very much at the center. Pushing the boundaries of your bookshelf is a very worthwhile adventure at times.
“Funny, I’d forgotten that what comes to you when you take a psychedelic is not always a revelation of something new and startling; you’re more liable to find yourself reminded of simple things you know and forgot you knew — seeing them freshly — old, basic truths that long ago became cliches, so you stopped paying attention to them.”
― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
“I am completely convinced that there is a wealth of information built into us, with miles of intuitive knowledge tucked away in the genetic material of every one of our cells. Something akin to a library containing uncountable reference volumes, but without any obvious route of entry. And, without some means of access, there is no way to even begin to guess at the extent and quality of what is there. The psychedelic drugs allow exploration of this interior world, and insights into its nature.”
― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
I will continue talking on psychedelics on other occasions so I feel that it’s best to let these quotes speak for themselves for now.
Next quote is from Creative Mornings Weekly Newsletters. What I love about their themes and content is that it’s built around the idea that ‘everyone is creative’ — they are not simply holding conversations for the ‘creative types’. This excerpt on a Turkish word reminded me that words are very much wrapped up in the meanings and ways we’d heard them as a child.
Kısmet is a Turkish word that evolved from the Arabic qisma, meaning one’s portion or lot in life. When kismet was borrowed into English in the early 1800s, its meaning shifted into fate and fortune. But be wary of awaiting your destiny with passivity, philosopher Barrett Holmes Pitner warns, lest you resign yourself to a fate where nothing grows. Attend to the synchronicities in your life.
When kismet alights upon you, the cosmos is letting you in on something, and you can choose to meet it.When the stars align and good fortune visits, it must be kismet. An unexpected windfall, a chance encounter with another that blossoms, a doorway opening to impossible dreams. Kismet is a little pocket of time just for you. We marvel at the sheer, unlikely wonder of these moments.
As a very inquisitive child striving to be ‘the voice of reason’, I had completely ignored the word and felt irritated everytime I heard it! I’m looking at things in a more inclusive perspective now — synchronicities can be playful and life affirming.
The last quote is one that I’m looking to live by — even when I notice I’ve acted against it, the awareness brings me back to why this is becoming more of a way of life that I firmly believe in.
Hard choices, easy life — Easy choices, hard life. ― Jerzy Gregorek
This gives us a Stoic view of balancing what can happen when you opt to make the difficult decision. The easy life is the reward that comes from not making the easy decision. Often, the hard choice is saying no.
May you have a week full of kismet, sense of wonder and your very own choices.
