I No Longer…
“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and smile at those who do not want to smile at me.
I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to co-exist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition no academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.”
-Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has been an example of poise and composure for me since the first time I saw her on screen. It isn’t so much about the choice of characters, but the way she conducts herself wherever you may find her. She does her work in the most charming way, the work of being a fellow human being, actress and an influential person. She has remarkable control over how to display class, principle and values, subtly, without being frigid, without an agenda. She is probably the only person I have seen so comfortable in her shoes. And I will always be curious in figuring out how she does it while so easy on our eyes and ears.
The featured image in this blog helped me get a little peek into the mind of a woman I have looked up to, rather a woman who has always appeared and disappeared with good taste. Our worlds are so far apart, but in spite of the distance, I can explore and sometimes get a glimpse because her style and methods are so beautifully evident, abundant and outstanding.
This particular glimpse into Meryl Streep’s mind enables understanding, more clearly, how in a world and career of chaos does a woman hold a warm, gentle, sexy yet non-vulgar smile and body language.
When I came across this poster 6 months ago I did not think I was ready to display it, neither did I think I have achieved much to be able to pull it off. But the whole point of these words and the person who is saying it is that the things written here in the picture must be felt within and are not to be claimed. Because claiming is from the world outside your mind, heart and soul.
Our interactions have always lacked a certain amount of composure. When I say ‘our’ I mean each and every one of us on this planet. We are reckless with our ways. We try to project and fit into some sort of structure and hence we give up and compromise a lot. What we end up doing, more often than not is, when we interact with others, we create temporary alter egos, which are baseless, feeble, fickle and fade away as the situation passes. And I see many people perform this activity with so much ease it scares me. What scares me more is that I am able to do this too, maybe not with ease, but with a huge amount of difficulty. It tires me out and I am happy it does, while I see so many souls fade into the abyss of putting up a face and putting up with a system, ruining the sanctity of the temple which is their mind and just conducting themselves in destructive ways.
This opposed to being able to have faith in those few people and being able to generate an understanding of them and rapport with them just enough to keep on flowing in life at your own pace is also very important. None of this can be achieved without truth and clarity,i.e. keep the lies and manipulation out. Lying and manipulation just create a lot of static, noise and roadblocks in real-time matters. Makes you talk funny, walk funny and create an environment of mistrust and sluggish suspicion. Everyone on this planet can do without it, no exceptions.
You don’t have to be liked, just accepted where you truly belong. And if you are feeling opposed, its just a reflection upon the atrocious close-mindedness of the people who you may stumble upon from time to time.
A very twisted reality has been created, as I have experienced it, distorted by everyone else’s but your own unique point of view. This brings out the worst in people. It’s a criminal level of harassment and it is expected to be swallowed with remorse for decisions and choices which the individual has made for a better experience of his or her life. It is also expected to be done without pride or contempt. And I am talking about individuals who are capable enough to grasp the concept of a fuller and richer life apart from what they commonly see and what is commonly supposed to happen.
It’s easy to forget what is the most essential of things and we have stopped asking this question: “If I say these things and make my opinion heard to a person or a group of people, will it hurt them and is it worth it to put them through the misery?”. We are all guilty of this and I do include myself. Contexts are different yet the actions are the same and unforgivable. Opinions don’t matter, if you look at it closely, nothing really matters in the bigger picture. How much money you make and save, how many houses or cars you own, or how many people you end up pleasing. None of these things matters if you don’t use your money to get peace and calm, chasing and hoarding money is false satisfaction if it will never help you buy a book or have the time to read it, books or any other finer things in life. Not one of the houses you own will matter if you cannot have your cup of coffee in peace once every day, watch movies, do yoga, just flail your hands about in joy or if it isn’t a corner that helps you grow. How many people will you be willing to sit next to, because it is just easy to be as it is easy to breathe, without activities or conversations, without exerting yourselves for each other and collapsing in exhaustion, these are the people who have already pleased you and you have pleased without much giving, taking and talking, only mutual understanding and trust.
-Embrace the liberation that reading a good book gives you and invest in that feeling-
As an ardent fan of stories, bedtime stories will have a very special place on the priority list. This is one of the pacifiers I have carried with me since I was a child. The shortcomings of the world and yourself should not be allowed to enter the beautiful world of dreams.
I found this video on one such night where I was thinking:
“What could I read or have read to me that will ensure a good sound sleep?”
Meryl Streep reads ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’
With an official video by ‘Rabbit Ears’
Stories are gifts we have bestowed upon each other, originality is secondary. If you can introduce something from the heart, you must introduce a good story. There are many who under the umbrella of originality chose to inflict the world with bad stories. They are not storytellers they are far from it. As important it is to sidestep such stories and storytellers it is as important to fill your life with the stories that deserve to be heard and take over your life, by their extraordinary nature of being able to uplift your senses.
Transporting someone into a different place doesn’t necessarily mean that you are distracting them from their real lives, and turning people into daydreaming imbeciles. It is the ability to be able to create a space for them away from the material world, an intangible world, where they can wander freely. It is a transportation of the mind in the most radical way.
Two wonderful women, Meryl Streep and J. K. Rowling who have been under the microscope of every watching eye, and made a mark in spite of a heavily prejudiced world. Two women who have encouraged individuality and discouraged succumbing to peer pressures consistently, without fears of the usual kind. In their own unusual ways, they have brought cheer and happiness to their volume of work, attesting to the path to ‘real success’.
Kattyayani's Travelling Circus 