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This blog is about absolutely nothing. In Seinfeld we trust!
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About Me
- Tangled up in blue...
- Now homeward bound. Finally footloose and fancy free.
29 comments:
I think ephemeralness is the beauty. Like it's the death that gives life meaning; if good things were everlasting, somewhere along the way they'd lose beauty.
And nothing lasts forver....its like life is what happens while we're busy making other plans.!!
Darshan, yeah, you're probably right. What can be lost is more desirable than what will always remain.
Tangerine, agreed! :)
And then we question Keats... a thing of beauty is obviously not a joy forever.. Gaaah!
Sigh, Keats! Whenever I think of him, I always wonder if the only way to stay beautiful forever is to die really young. Man, he was something!
Agree.It is also just maybe their ephemeral and unknown nature that contributes to the 'specialness'.A face seen for a few moments or hours only to disappear forever is the necessary catalyst for our dreams.
Like they say Romances are never as pure as those we imagine during long train journeys,as we secetly contemplate a beautiful person,2 rows down staring outside a window:-)
Arumugam, I do agree. Romantic notions are often aided by the thought of love up against a deadline. That was what made Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so charming. :)
Oh, and do read this poem here.
http://bluedrain.blogspot.in/2010/05/hum-bewafa-hargiz-na-par-hum-wafa-kar.html
If i may defend Keats. the joy is forever not the thing. and like TUIB put it, aptly that the 'joy' is forever most often when the 'thing' is ephemeral.
Jester, yes, I agree. That is correct. The joy lasts a lot longer than the thing possibly could. And probably because of that very reason. :)
you know,I think a name must be invented for the feeling you describe.
I also think you should check out The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
You will like it :)
Ooh, that sounds quite interesting, En! I definitely shall check it out! :) And you know, there's a very lovely Portuguese word that my grand-dad told me once when I was a child, the word is "Saudade" and it means to love something deeply inspite of knowing it will be lost and then longing for it forever. :) Comes close, doesn't it?
A friend of mine just informed me on facebook that there's a Japanese phrase called "Mono no aware" which is the awareness of the transience of things and a gentle sadness at their passing. :)
and everytime I hear the mention of Keats I am reminded of Yeats (wasnt until many years that I came to know that those names don't actually rhyme)
here's one from him
I heard the old, old men say,
'Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.'
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
'All that's beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.'
I have a much more romantic and much less world-weary poem by Yeats on my facebook profile though now I am starting to think I like this one better. :) Thank you! And you know, I only learned the correct pronunciation of Yeats' name two years ago. :D And inside an action movie to boot! ;)
to tell you honestly, although i write poetry, i rarely read any, and if i do i never remember any. your post made me look up some old yeats poems i had once read and this one sounded good at the time.
what action movie quotes yeats btw? need to watch it. i found out the correct pronunciation after half an hour of spewing poetry and literary names to impress a girl, only to get one line in response 'its pronounced YATES!' ouch!
That would be the Christian Bale starrer Equilibrium. It's an interesting concept-movie actually but it's also has the notoriety of having one of the highest body counts in recent times. :D
*it also has
How is the title connection with the post? May be they are, but in the way that they are so deeply connected that they do not seem to be not connected at all, much like when things become too close, they become blurred... :-)
And again, I quite enjoyed the conversations here about the joys and what lasts and what not...
May be we can safely say that, neither the things last, nor the joys they give..But what lasts is the feeling and the memories that they once used to give us joy and in that moment both the thing and the joy, come alive as if they were always there...
As they say,'everything is illuminated in the aura of nostalgia'! :)
What I am wondering is why am I talking about things, when you talk about relationships. May be the rule applies to both. May be.. ..
Kunal, actually I am talking about both as well. And well, I could explain to you how the title connects with the post but that would involve having to explain the convoluted workings of my mind which is a little difficult for me to do. :D Well, there's a person I know who is a big fan of Enigma and who once emailed me the song 'Goodbye, Milky Way' which contains the words of the title and this person is someone I may never meet again in life or may meet only briefly thus, inspiring the contemplation of the same in the post. Did that explanation make sense? :D
Told you it would be convoluted! ;)
And speaking of memories, I don't think they last forever either. Or atleast not in a pure way. Nostalgia not only illuminates but also distorts memory such that food tastes better, smiles are brighter, and every moment is filled with more joy than it could have been in real life. :)
Karishma, these lines are beautiful. You have a way with words that sometimes leaves me speechless.
Nitisha, you're just the person I was thinking of! I read that description of "Saudade" on one of your old blogposts, do you remember which one I mean? I tried to look for it again on your blog yesterday! :) Thank you!
Well, At the outset... I presume the speed of light here refers to a very short interval of observation time...You see...in a jiffy you get glimpses that form ephemeral impressions ....and this when combined with the fancy of our imagination presents the look that we want to see....The second look , the closer look, the harder look, the observant look...... brings it with the reality that is sans of beauty of imagination.....with that look you see the tainted beauty ....the problem with this look is that with the flare the faults too become too conspicuously visible ....but ...that is reality and one has to live with it in real world....
Sunil, yes that's another interesting facet to it. With the benefit of time we could change our outlook to certain people or things, but in a momentary flash, an impression is all we have. That fleeting impression may be inaccurate or even idealised. It was great to get your perspective of things. Thank you for that comment, Sunil. :)
reminds of the phrase by Shakespeare-"absence makes the heart grow fonder" .Yes I do agree the best of our relationships are mostly transitory and this short duration has its magical power which makes the time stand still.But what takes away this magic is our connecting with people each and every minute through social networking sites like fb,orkut etc. and thus losing that abstract feeling once felt
I have heard of the song...may be..I didn't give the sort of listening which was required to make the connection...but considering most of your posts have titles which are taken from songs, poems, movies or books (:D), I think I should have been able to make it..but...even a clever one is allowed one miss...right? :P
And don't worry about your convoluted description and mind.... I am quite adept at understanding.. :-)
When you say, nostalgia distorts memories ..(Nostalgia not only illuminates but also distorts memory such that food tastes better, smiles are brighter, and every moment is filled with more joy than it could have been in real life.)....may be...it is a reaction of our mind to the fact that we didn't live or enjoyed the moment to its absolute best when we were there...and when we recap...it created an image of euphoria and enhances the feeling of good times...makes sense? may be....may be not... :P
But, I know, that there is no as such definition of 'absolute best'! :-)
Beautiful thought.
Personally, I feel that our best relationships happen in transit because it takes less effort to give our best and only our best for a short period of time.
From the perspective of memories, yes, transit affairs are the best things to look back at. Sometimes makes me wonder if all of life was just about short periods of transits, would it not be the best thing to hope for?
traveller, I agree. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." But then also, "out of sight is out of mind." But what you're saying is true. Something that one cannot have forever does acquire a magical quality. While something that one can make last becomes mundane.
Kunal, yes yes, and sometimes I am intentionally hoping no one makes a connection so it's like my little secret. :) And that's a very intriguing way to look at nostalgia. As a sort of stop-gap filling mechanism of the mind that makes sure our happiness always manages to reach saturation level, in memories if not in real life.
Sinduja, wow! That is a truly brilliant observation. Thank you for sharing that with me. You're right - it is easier to be charming and funny and good-looking or atleast to keep up the illusion of being those things for a short period of time. It becomes difficult to stay your best all the time. :) Really thanks for that. It hadn't occurred to me before.
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