#BlogOEmotion: Day 1: What Gives You Joy?

Joy is the smile on a baby's face! (Photo credit)

Joy. The word brings to my mind unbridled glee. Pure, unadulterated happiness. And that kind of joy can mean different things for different people. Have you seen the joyful face of a toddler when it gets a fistful of candies? Or the happy steps of kids running to catch a falling kite? Or a baby smiling at lights it can barely make out? The other night, I was at a restaurant and these 2 little kids broke into a jig at retro Hindi music with not a care in the world. Children are naturally joyful and small things make them happy. As we grow up, we are burdened by the cares of the world. We start chasing our dreams and achieving each one only gives rise to more goals and expectations. Especially in today's crazy times, we have insane schedules trying to juggle work and home. It's a constant battle to free ourselves from the shackles of distractions that the internet and smartphones create every day. We have forgotten the little joys that our parents' generation savoured as part of simpler times. Sipping tea after office and browsing through the newspaper, having an early dinner and going to sleep on time - simpler choices that made life easier.

The joy of simple indulgences! (Photo credit)

In fact, now more than ever is the need to find what gives us joy and squeeze time for it every day. At least, every weekend. And, true enough, we try a zillion things in our quest for joy. Expensive massages, overseas holidays, yoga and meditation camps or motivational books that tell us how to find joy. But I guess we just end up complicating even the process of finding joy.

In my experience, it is easier to be joyful when we go back to the simplicity of our childhood. Strip our experiences of expectation. And find simple joys in life. I discovered adult colouring books this year. Not a very great with colours, I was at first anxious about the outcome since I had seen these amazing pictures online. But soon I let go of the anxiety since the colouring was only for me. It wasn't to prove anything to anyone. And now, the leaves in my book are coloured anything but green and brown. It's the joy of indulging myself in colours. I also have a simple word puzzle book. It doesn't have complex levels since the idea is to experience the joy of finding words in the jumble. I recently went to a restaurant and at the end we were served with a plate full of melody, kismi toffees and Poppins! And that was a moment of sheer joy! My spouse and I picked handfuls and it felt like reliving a part of our childhood. Listening to my favourite music, even while working, gives me joy. Spending time with my spouse is always joyful - we listen to music together, watch a movie or just chat about general things.

There was a time when I was so lost in running my busy life that I had forgotten what gave me joy. I found a few things that do. I am still trying to recover the joy I felt in a lot of other things - like reading - instead of the current anxiety of too many books to read and too little time. Look around and think what really gives you joy. Are/were there things that makes you forget the world and be happy doing it? Write the first thing that comes to your happy mind in the comment.

This post has been written for #CreativeCurves under #BlogOEmotion week and this post is for Day 1 prompt - Joy.

#NaBloPoMo Day 6: My biggest fear as a child

This blogging challenge seems to be bringing all my secrets out. First it was my childish dreams of being a school teacher when I grow up and now talking about my biggest fears as a child!

As children, I don't think we fear failure or other serious things in life. I remember the fear of darkness and ghosts to be the strongest as a child. I would be scared if the electricity went off suddenly - which was a common thing in Bangalore, where I grew up. Since I am the youngest in the family, I thankfully had elders in my family reassuring me that there's nothing to be scared and they were around.

I don't know how and where kids get the notion of ghosts from, but that was the second thing I was scared of. The thought that something that isn't alive could be lurking around scared the daylights out of me. I remember that there was a thriller series on TV at 10pm and I had watched the first episode. It was about a fort where people went in and came back with hand prints on their back even though they hadn't met anyone there. Spooky? I was so scared that I was put to sleep before 10 on the day of the program.

Have those fears gone? Not entirely. I still prefer to have a little light on at night if I am in a new place. It's just reassuring to know my way around the place. I am fine in my own house since I know the place. Also, I steer clear of all kinds of spooky things - even movie trailers with 'ghostly' content. It's just not something I want to watch/hear or read about because I know it will disturb be later.

Well! It wasn't exactly fun revisiting my fears. And I think this is quite a personal post compared to the kind of things I write about.

#NaBloPoMo Day 4: What did I want to be when I grow up

Recalling what I thought of my parents' profession as a kid is a hard task! My dad ran his own business and my mom ran the household. Going by what I wanted to be when I grow up, I definitely did not aspire to be either of them. From what I remember, 2 things come to my mind. Like most kids of my generation, I had a strange attraction to becoming a school teacher when I grow up. We all love our teachers as kids. I think us wanting to become teachers is a manifestation of the love and respect we have for them. After a mother, it's the teacher who takes care of us, imparts us values and ensures we are safe outside of home. I had my own set up at home. I would write on the door of the cupboard and hit pillows which were propped as kids. Yes, it sounds so silly and embarrassing now but teaching was serious business to me back then. Actually even now since I am a soft skills trainer and do a pretty similar job.

It was hard not to aspire to be like these immaculate speakers (Photo Credit)

The other thing which I thought I will be when I grow up was a news presenter. I am talking about a time when Doordarshan was the only news channel and we held on to every word of the presenter. We knew each reader by his or her name and they weren't short of national celebrities. They looked stern and business-like like our teachers, with impeccable diction, flawless fluency (I did not know about a teleprompter then) and absolutely professional  presence. As a kid, I think it was hard not to aspire to be like them. I'd memorise lines from the newspaper and try to present like them to my family. I did not understand a word of the front page English but it was fun to emulate them.

Thank you #NaBloPoMo for this trip down the memory lane!