Ole to you! :)

This is going to be long. 


Just yesterday I was talking to a friend who moved to Philippines at around the same time when I came to the US, about how both of us have come to conclude that people all over the world, no matter how different they might look or behave, say just the same things. They are essentially all the same people with just the same belief systems. They might talk in a different language, have different stories to share but their morals will surely match yours!


Many a times it has surprised me to see American people here say things (in English) - which would be word to word translations of things that my mother or her mother (Indians) used to tell me(in Hindi), who I can guarantee you have never been to or really know much about the cultures to their west or east. 


And today I came across another example of this whole "one world one people" thing. My mother often quoted from the Gita - "Karam kar, phal ki ichcha na kar" (meaning - keep working and do not try to measure the results with your own expectations) For some odd reason it never struck a chord with me. For as long as I remember, the phal or the result has been the only thing that ever mattered to me. So much that it has been the only driving force behind any of my actions. So far it has worked well in my life. 


But there is another thing that I have come to learn in my life. Your beliefs, experiences and comfort zones can only take you so far. Beyond that it takes a lot of character, courage and the right attitude to take you anywhere. 


As I try to chalk out my own path, carve my own future, I find myself stressed by the uncertain result of my choices. They might produce the result I imagine they would, or I might fail terribly. And it is hard for me to be motivated by such uncertainty. 


But today I came across this captivating TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity. She talked about how her previous success "Eat, Pray, Love" has put her under a performance pressure. The wonderful writer that she is, she has spun a beautiful talk around how all she can do is show up for her part of the job everyday-which is to write and leave it to the gods to be her constant source of creative ideas. The Moral ofcourse is..."Karam kar, phal ki ichcha na kar" :) N this time it made much more sense than it ever did in the past.


Watching it has put a lot of things for me in perspective for me. My favorite is where she talks about taking the genius out of oneself. Do not think of yourself as the source of any awesomeness out there in the world. You are just a channel. The best you can do is keep doing what you love doing, and not worry about the awesome...its not your part of the deal anyway!


My post will make more sense if you watch this here http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html#.TjFLWVDSCak.facebook


Ole to you anyway :)