Bits of a life

Being independent, being self-sufficient are buzzwords that we hear more and more, as some societies are making, or have already made the transitions from family-oriented to a purely individualistic communities. Relaying one's own devices to go through life leads to an existence of strife and struggle, but there is almost a sense of achievement attached to managing one's life without resorting to the help of others.  A premium is put on this mangled almost unrecognizable form of self-reliance. We sometimes understand independence to be the ability to achieve outside of the confines of the family, the group or the community. This perverted form of independence, creates selfish, cold individuals out of us. It creates individuals that can't trust anybody outside of themselves. Persons unsupported by their community become weak and scared. In nature animals and insects live in group, large or small. Within these groups, each individual performs certain tasks that advance the wh

Walking down the aisles of a supermarket, we get overwhelmed by all the choices presented to us. Shelves after shelves decked out with cereals, chocolate, chips and all varieties of snacks. Standing in the middle of this jungle of garish packages, we look around, pick up a package, read the ingredients, then we put it down and grab another. They all look similar but different at the same time. Finally, after a couple of minutes, we take a decision and we pick something familiar, something that looks and feels as a good choice. We often use the packaging, the price, the sugar content or the fat content as a shortcut, because we don't have the time, nor the expertise to thoroughly investigate each product that we buy. We use these attributes as an indication of quality. A higher price means a better products, and a well-designed packaging is a sign of high quality goods. We use reviews in the same way, ignoring the fact that we, as humans, although we agree on a lot of things, we hav

Our brain, senses and our bodies adapt to our environment. , habits and our way of life to make things easier for us. If our job if physical, our brain will direct its focus towards feeding our muscles to allow them to carry out our work with the least of effort. If our work is intellectual, our brain is going to neglect our body and privilege our intellect by directing most of its attention to the development of our neurons. When we overstimulate our brain watching fast action movies or playing saturated video games, that feature garish colors and dashing characters that evolve in  racy environments, we raise our threshold level for what looks and feels normal. Our baseline in no more the quiet stories that take place in the country side or the simple games that feature a simplistic design and primitive sounds, these things don't entertain us anymore. In certain countries where spicy food is a daily sustenance, a simple dish with basic condiments is flat and tasteless. In order to

The holidays are getting closer, and we start planning our holidays, from the destination, to the hotel we are going to book, to the daily activities that we are planning to take part in. Our holidays are laid out in minute details, filling out page after page of our notebook. Peeking from between its pages are notes and picture that make our book look like soggy cardboard fished out of a stagnant pond. At our destination things look a bit different, amusement parks are closed for renovation and the visiting hours of the museum have slighted shifted. We feel aggravated, and we start complaining about things that could not be changed to fit the instructions in our bloated notebook. We stiffen and grudgingly modify our plans. Our visits to these unplanned locations feel like the first day of kinder garden for a toddle that have been separated from his parents without previous notice. Whatever we eat makes us feel sick. The sun gives us headaches and the chats with fellow travelers feel l

A random, unexpected string of joyful events tore the sulky mask off your face and imparted a subtle happiness to it. You are walking around with a visible, wide smile grafted on your lips. People in the street look at you, then look away, thinking that you are mentally unstable. Acquaintances and coworkers ask you about the cause of your happiness. People close to you wonder, and some of them take it a step further and ask you, "why are you smiling?". You realize how unnatural the external signs of happiness are. Laughing or smiling needs to have a reason, it also needs to be short lived. A human that smiles all the time is looked at as either insane or fickle and unreliable. He could sometimes be perceived as irritating, as his disposition toys with our held beliefs that presents life to us as a series of troubles interspersed with brief moments of joy.   We have to be and look serious, downtrodden, if possible, and beaten by life's circumstances. Through this sober inc

Eating is one of our most essential daily activities. It provides our bodies with the necessary nutrients for it to be able to function and maintain us alive. It has also a less obvious function which is fortifying the bond between individuals. In a lot of cultures, sharing food with people elevates them to the rank of family members. The very act of dipping one's fork, loaf of bread or hand in the same communal dish and tasting the same aromas and flavors, unites the partakers in a gastronomic dances that makes their tongues sway to the same rhythm. The food tastes better. It is as if we have added a secret potion to it by sharing it. The moving mouths and the chewing sounds interlaced with the occasional "Hmms" and "Ahhhs" graft a special, almost brotherly  atmosphere onto the simple act of eating. We feel united for the duration of the meal. It is like sharing a part of one's private life with others. A communal plate connected to the extended arms around

Water is smooth in its working, it goes around obstacles, under tree branches and over stones. It never stops to force its way though an obstacle. It is always running. it espouses the shape of its recipient without complaint or protests. As erosion does its deed, water slowly changes course, adapts to the new situation and effortlessly goes through passage that were giant obstacle before. Leaving a situation or a problem sometimes is the best solution. Letting time do its deed and taking a step back is all what needs to be done. Doing nothing and standing by the side is harder than putting our hands into the clay of our lives and trying to shape it to our likings. Faithful passivity requires a huge amount of trust in the flow of the universe. The flow that makes the night follow the day and the ebb follow the flow with faultless precision, the flow that circulates our blood heals our cells ad regulates our body chemistry. Most often than not, our intervention, although made with the b

You start your day as you always do. Before leaving the house you listen to some elevating music as you take a colorful breakfast that will get you through the first part of your day. You s hine you shoes whistling to a melody which you brain dug up to fit your present light mood. After getting your self into comfortable pants and a matching jacket. You open the door to your apartment and saunter down the stairs still humming the some tune. A click of a door handle following by the squeaking of unoiled hinges make you stop. The harsh nature of these combined sounds drown out the beautiful tune playing in you head. The door opens and a pale face with drooping features makes its appearance. Your eyes scan each crease and each discolored spot and send these signals to your brain to process them. Your brain stops the tune, identifies the face as a neighbor called "John", and starts playing another tune, one that fits the John's appearance. Unaware of the change that has just

Upon waking up on a hot summer day, we groggily trudge half dressed to the bathroom. There is enough light coming from the overhead half-open window, but our hand flips the light switch on out of habit. Through squinted eyes, we feel repelled by the sight of our over bulging stomach in the spotted glass. We curse between clenched teeth, freshen up, take a cursory breakfast and head to the closest gym. We pay the fees and after changing into adequate attire, we start moving around the gym with no clue as to what we need to do. We lift different dumbbells, and we do a couple of spins on the static bike. after a while we start feeling discomfort that turns into a searing pain in our legs, and we know that it is time to stop and engage in a less demanding activity. Pain, happiness, sadness or fear make up the alphabet that our body uses to communicate with us. When we feel pain, our body telling to stop whatever we are doing because the activity we are engaged in is not suitable to our bod