Today I have the pleasure of hosting Dagny Sol of Serenely Rapt fame on my blog! Dagny inspires by her writing. Her prose is impeccable and will pull you into her stories and anecdotes that have elements that inform, entertain and make you think. As a writer, she is among the finest I’ve read. As a woman, I admire the way she leads her life and the woman that she is. She is strong willed, principled, and never afraid to speak her mind. She is also deeply sensitive and perceptive! She can be mischievous and a lot of fun as well. She and I share so many traits in common sometimes even thoughts that it has become a joke among us :). It is with great delight that I welcome her here. Hope you will love what she writes as much as I do…
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With a change in perspective you can live a little deeper.
Frequently (and unconsciously), you rate your actions by level of their importance. For instance, the time you spend with friends is important, but the time you spend with your family is more important. An hour of reading might be very important but thirty minutes of visiting a sick friend in hospital must certainly be more important than the reading, while a sixty second conversation with a grocery store clerk might not be important at all.
What if everything you do, matters? If every move counts as much as any other, every interaction you have is significant? What if every decision you take- or abdicate- is like the blow of your hammer on the chisel of your will- shaping you into what you are in the process of becoming every single moment of your life?
Every tint of color you add (or decide not to add), you are creating the masterpiece that is your life. You are assured that this masterpiece will be beautiful no matter what colors and brush strokes go into it. It will be beautiful simply because there will be no other canvas like yours in the world.
Being aware of the importance of each moment in helping create your unique canvas will surely prompt you to choose the most soothing colors and the deftest brush strokes for your canvas. You will surely be a little more deliberate and fastidious in your choices. You would certainly reject unworthy brushes and substandard colors. Your time might be utilized better, your talents exercised more thoroughly.
You will begin living a little deeper.
When life is lived a little deeper, you will be a better parent and spouse, a better employee and a far more valuable friend. Your life would be a lot more satisfying. A feeling of personal significance, of knowing how important your life is, doesn’t come from without; it wells up from within.
– When a parent knows that the angry teen that lives in the bedroom across the passage is storing each conversation away unconsciously to use as a reference point later…
– When a teenager understands that every choice made in leisure today will affect the choices that will be available to him in the times ahead…
– When an employee knows that every tedious report he is compelled to generate condenses into drops of life giving fluid that keeps her company flourishing…
… life is lived a little deeper.
Your decisions become wiser. Your words become milder; your annoyance loses its sharp edge. Your reactions become more cautious and patient. These are just a few examples of what will happen. Simply put, when we understand that every action matters, every result of our actions immediately improves!
I believe we are all given our individual share of life. You may spread it out over a large surface… stretch it out thin, so to speak. Or you can let it seep deeply into layer upon layer of consciousness with hardly a small patch visible on the surface. Each style of living has its own rewards. A huge spread makes you visible to your fellow humans, while your impact has no permanence. When you live a little deeper, the opposite is true.
Pearls, after all, are citizens of the deep.
Pic courtesy: Internet
Wow I absolutely loved this! Being aware of your actions… the meaning and importance of it in each moment…of how it affects the larger world around you! I could connect with this writing so well, esp the examples made it more real to me. Thank you Dagny and Rachna for lighting up my Monday morning 😀
Aditi, I am so pleased that my words resonated with you. Your comment gives me immense pleasure.
Thanks so much for reading, Aditi! Yes, Dagny’s writing does that to you!
Rachna,
Dig a life deeper and live by– Wow-that’s truly inspiring, Dags! Lovely post!
Rachna, I have been reading and following Dag’s post for quite sometime.Her writings are short and succinct. Her words are full of light and warmth-lovely!
Thanks for sharing…
Panchali, you and I go back a long time indeed. I have found your delightful verses deep and insightful and have benefited much from your feedback on my rather gauche writing of those days. You have helped shape me into a better writer.
Thank you for all the patient, gentle nudges you have given me over the years. Hugs!
Thanks Panchali! Agree with everything you say about Dagny’s writing!
Gautam Budh said one has to live each moment with awareness, take every breath with awareness and eat every morsel with awareness. In our stressful lives, it is hard to slow down and do that. You seem to have found the way to do it. Lovely
Ritu, a slow life is one of the perks of living in a small town. I was telling my daughter yesterday that I wouldn’t move out of my sleepy town for love or money. 😀
hi Dagny
A profound and beautiful article. If we realized the importance of living in each moment , life would be so better and more peaceful. Easier said than done but definitely not impossible.
Jaishvats, Thank you. Your words warm my heart. 🙂
Not many do it, but those who dig deeper do make a difference.
Packed with wisdom and warmth, it is always a pleasure to read your poetic prose Dagny.
Thank you so much Alka. 🙂
Taking responsibility of one’s own action, being aware of the results of each action, prioritizing the various acts, does make one live better and deeper. Lovely article this is Dagny! And thanks Rachna for sharing this with us. 🙂
Thank you so much Rekha. You have summarized it so well! 🙂
Thanks, Rekha! The pleasure is mine.
Reading Dag’s writing after quite some time.
As usual her writing is amazing and thought rendering.
Both you have nice bonding and understanding. Keep going.
Sundar, I wish you wouldn’t disappear ‘leaving not a wrack’ behind, as they say. So pleased to sight you on the horizon again. 🙂 Miss interacting with you…
This was just such a profound and beautiful post, lovely topic for Dagny to have written about and a lovely post for you Rachna to have as a guest post on your blog. The entire post resonates so well with my own personal belief and convictions regarding our thoughts, actions, and the consequences of our actions and how they fit into the larger picture of our journey called life. Lovely post…
Thank you so much Jairam! Your comment delights and gratifies me 🙂
Thank you, Jairam! I am blessed to have my friends come up with sterling work for my blog!
Loved the straightforward effectiveness of this post. I pray this new awareness reaches those it needs to reach most. Starting with me. 🙂
Subhorup, what a beautiful thing to say! Thank you so much! 🙂
Dagny, a wonderful post. We keep reading about this, making every moment count, yet we don’t really follow that path. We are simply going through the motions of the day that we live almost mechanically.
Mindful living needs conscious effort and practice.
Rachna, thanks for hosting Dagny.
Janu, I guess we all need regular reminders. It is easy to get caught up in the hum- drum of life and to forget to live mindfully. I’m so glad you liked this. Thank you.
My pleasure, Janu!
Beautiful and very thought provoking! Delve a bit deeper indeed… we are after all shaped by the choices we make and not just by the circumstances that surround us …
Seeta: We are indeed shaped by our choices and not our circumstances. As Victor Frankl said, the last human freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude no matter what the circumstances.
Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Very profound post! loved the message that is conveyed, something we start out with but maybe forget in the course of getting things done. Being mindful, am glad I read this post.
Thank you for reading- and appreciating- Chattywren. 🙂
Dagny, love the analogy between Life and a Painting. While the strokes of decisions consciously taken will be designed a certain way, every paint spill or an unconventional colour will impart learning to our being too. And we will grow.
Digging a little deeper will unfold layers to life which we do not appreciate, and aspects to people which we do not necessarily see. It should make us understand and cherish both life and loved ones equally.
Beautiful thoughts, in your classic style.
Sakshi: Aapke jaise readers mushkil se milte hain. Ek- do hi mil jaayein to man gad- gad ho jata hai.
Thank you for the ‘value addition’ to the piece. Your comment has just ‘deepened’ my perception a little bit. I hadn’t thought about going deeper into people. Hmmm…
Dagny, this is just the kind of stuff we all need to read. Yes, every moment of frustration, every trial and tribulation can be handled better if we see it as a pixel in the larger picture of life. You are right about the patience bit. I have personally experienced it. It can be done if only our sensibilities are tuned in. And the first step is the awareness. Thank you for writing this lovely, thought provoking post for my blog. It is an honor to have you here and a blessing to have you in my life! <3
Rachna, You must surely have heard that story about three men who were laying bricks at a construction site. When each was asked what he was doing, the first said he was laying bricks. The second said he was erecting a wall. But the third said he was building a cathedral.
I think we frequently forget we are building cathedrals. Even though I wrote this piece, I know I forget it as often as anyone else.
You must take credit for this piece too. Your blog is such a happy place for me that I wanted to be worthy of having my piece appear here.
Thank you for giving me the pleasure of illustrious company. I am honored, truly.
I absorbed every word like a sponge, Dagny, this was truly an amazing post.
Purba, I am tickled pink. Thank you! 🙂
Dagny,
That is one amazing post, and like Purba said “I’ve absorbed every word like a sponge” 🙂 Really enjoyed the painting analogy. When we make every moment count and understand how every action forms a part of the larger picture, it surely makes us live life a little deeper 🙂 Now. I just need to find a way to take life a little bit slowly and live in the moment – Your post has inspired me to do just that.
Rachna – Thank you for sharing such an amazing post with us!
Sid, You’ve no idea how smug your comment has made me feel. You don’t happen to have a pin handy, do you? I really don’t want to fly off like a balloon. Thank you for your appreciation. I am thrilled. 🙂
Thank you for reading, Sid, as always!
A lot of wisdom on a blog known for all wise things:)
Thank you Rahul.
A lovely post Dagny and since I am reading you for the first time, hope to read more of your posts !
The spreading yourself thinner vs deeper is so true..it resonates with something I have been reading and trying to imbue..the concept of Minimalism..removing clutter from your life and focusing on what really matters.
I hope you will not only read me more frequently but also share your insights and conclusions with me about Minimalism. Removing clutter- physical as well as conceptual- is certainly a major step towards mindful living.
Someday I hope to chew the cud with you on this- and other- topic(s).
Thank you for reading. 🙂
A very thought provoking post. Actually every thing depends on the attitude we adopt when we do something. Very beautifully written by Dagny. Thank you Rachna for presenting such a profound post.
Thank you for reading, Ushaji! It was a pleasure having Dagny over.
Thank you so much Ushaji. 🙂
Hi dagny n Rachna. I can relate to this post. One can say the change in perception changed my life in 2012.
Thanks Ritzy! Indeed, I could relate to this post as well. Thanks for reading!
Hi Ritzy, a paradigm shift can happen in a few seconds. I’m glad to know that you have already received yours. All the best for your journey ahead. 🙂
A beautiful post Dagny. Worth bookmarking and reading again.
Thank you Amit. Your comment pleases me immensely. 🙂
Dagny, when I consider the lovely brushstrokes of words you have used to write this post for Rachna, is it any wonder that I realize by the end of it that I have just read a masterpiece?
What an ingeniously simple thought. And what an incredibly profound revelation.
Rickie, Your comment sends me all the way to the moon. I feel festooned with stardust. Thank you for making my day dear friend, thank you very much indeed. 🙂