Monday, December 07, 2015

'Keep Moving'

As they say in Africa: "When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground with him."


My initial inspiration for writing stories, learning lessons of life, and thinking out of the box came from my Nana (maternal grandfather). I used to spend hours and hours just sitting and listening to him. To make a long story short, I still get excited when I hear older people sharing lessons from their lives. In this regard, my favorite article is from Khushwant Singh HERE.


A week ago, I enjoyed reading Dick Van Dyke's book 'Keep Moving' on a similar theme. He is now almost 90 and thinks the following five things matter in life.


1. Family and Friends - particularly children.

2. Habit to Question things, concepts, and curiosities around

3. Appreciation of good Music and the ability to dance to it

4. Reading and having books

5. A good sense of humor


I loved his comment: "Collect experiences, not memories." (Take away lesson for me from his book).


I honestly believe that good sleep and good dreams are essential for the healthy psyche of any human. He says forgiveness is the best sleeping pill at a philosophical level, but pragmatically, if you write down your to-do list for the next day (or try to write down your emotions) on paper, it will make you light, and you will sleep better.


I have been writing diary since the age of 19, and this practice has helped me.


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2 comments:

bsc said...

I have something to say. Yes I did imbibe much from sitting and listening to elders including the "adab" in their presence.
Mystic, may be yours is the last generation doing that. Nowadays children do not sit or listen to "elders company" as they think they learn more from the gadgets they have in their hands which they are constantly occupied with. As, for adab amongst the elders, that is the story of the past "Qissa-e-Parina"
May be they know something more but dada and nana's personal lives have given them innumerable stories worth much more. that they will never realize. I do not know but I fear this 'change' of culture may have some unpleasant consequences.

mystic said...

Yes uncle...

"......mohalle ki sab se purani nishani,
woh burhiya jeese bachhe kehte the nani
woh nani ki baton main paryon ka dera,
woh chehre ki jhurion main sadion ka phera
bhulaye nahi bhool sakta hai koi
woh choti si ratain, woh lambi kahani......"

Shayed har generation aik naya tajarba kerti hai.
Ab iPAD aur google hi hamari naniaN hain :)