look at the stars, look how they shine for you

The title is from Coldplay’s hit “Yellow”, which I play almost like a ritual every few days. Every time I do it someone or the other calls me too “mainstream” but you know what? I do not care.

We have this fear of conforming instilled upon us by everything starting from the ground up, from teachers in kindergarten forcing us to mug-up the alphabet instead of actually learn the sounds and words, to primary and secondary school teachers telling us why guys don’t sit together with girls (I am mostly talking about India). It is inherently a problem with society that we are yet to combat. Because nobody is brave enough to challenge the norms until they are too old to do anything and become what they hate/fear the most.

Being too afraid of taking decisions is the sworn enemy of humankind as a whole. It’s also the fear of being average, being stuck in a never-ending loop of average-ness in a world where everyone seems to be moving forward at the speed of light.

But something that everyone fails to understand is that, it is this exact fear of being average that assassinates our chances of becoming something great.

All our lives we have been taught to escape this evil of “average”. Our institutions punished average people ranking everyone on a marking scale that can be compared to atrocities inside a dictatorship. Everyone was made afraid of being average yet, all had their dreams stolen and their wings cut off. They could never take a flight out and be free, freedom was not a choice for them, it was not even present on their plates.

But, there’s a funny thing that’s always hidden in plain sight.

Take a walk, touch some grass and look around you. Do you see everyone being out of the ordinary superhumans? no. They are all “average” regular everyday people on their everyday schedules. There I shall introduce you to the word “Sonder”, which means to realise that everyone around you is a person, and they are very much real, with a real life, and real emotions.

They are the most beautiful people you will ever meet. Those same people who were insignificant to you a mere few moments ago can engage with you and in just a few turns of fate can be your closest buddies and the most honest pals ever. Not everyone is supposed to be a millionaire neither is everyone a celebrity, everyone is just trying to live and survive, make the best of it.

When you start living the best out of every moment, you start to realise how special this feeling is. Always striving for something special and looking out for it is negative control, something you can rather do is, do the things you love and adore. Write your favorite book idea, watch that funny movie you plan to watch or even study that subject you’ve always wanted to get into. Life is like multiple meals served one after another, you never know what course you are gonna get neither do you have any idea of what it can give you. The only criteria then lies is that if it is good or bad. Because if it is bad then we can work on fixing it, that’s what perfecting the product is for.

Sometimes in life, the most insignificantly simple steps you take are the most impactful. First one is that, to never be satisfied with whatever is on your plate all the time, strive for more, enjoy the world. Do not keep yourself in a caged box. Second one could be to stop conforming to the ideal norms set by stupid societal nincompoops, work your own path, walk it however you like it and be loud about it, nobody can stop you and if they do, don’t listen.

We are all some average regular everyday people, and we should not be afraid to admit that. Sometimes these regular people do awesome things, sometimes these regular people get awesome achievements. Some may be bikers, some may know how to cook like a 5 star chef, some may know how to play an instrument or some may know how to write. There’s this inherent wondrous feeling in never knowing what’s coming next, or mostly who will come next.

Once we get set into a routine, we get bored, our brain stops functioning. Nights turn into days, days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. And when this happens for a prolonged period our brain just adjusts to the new environment and there’s no coming back from that.

Little small ego deaths are how you create an extraordinary life, you let the ego die and then you live like there’s no tomorrow, do the things you were afraid of and create new comfort zones.

A famous dreamer Anthony Bourdain once said
”I am eager to believe I am completely wrong about everything.”

And I think that is the true motto everyone should live by.

Thanks for reading yours blissfully! I wrote this article half-asleep, i don’t even know why, one subscribe = one prayer.

Please feel free to share this so i can perhaps share my whimsy with others too <3