Getting Carried Away

I am twenty. And that is definitely not old. But compared to fourteen year olds on Instagram posting their #ootd (outfit of the day) or "Message me an X and I'll post my favourite photo of you (Max 15 people only)" I feel like a generation apart. These are the new teen things 15 only??? And I fail to understand how they manage to live in that world of Instagram and Snapchat, posting videos of what they're doing live, without really enjoying the moment. At the same time, I try to tell myself that's probably how they enjoy the moment. I hope they're consciously doing what they are, and it's actually what they want. It's important to not get swayed away by the idea of being an internet phenomenon.

But the new generation disappoints me. (And the "New Generation" includes my own generation as well.) My sister's class mates and seniors were willing to spend 3,500 rupees to get a farewell book made for the principal since she was leaving school. 3.5 thousand - and that's my monthly pocket money! Jokes apart, the only reason they were okay doing that was because that's what they do with their projects as well - classic example of letting bad habits extend to things that could be tackled differently. 8th and 9th graders paying other people to do their projects because it looks more professional is depressing. My sister took it upon herself to make it and got the papers binded in about 300.

You might wonder how these students survive in the real world. And the thing is, they don't. I am now in my fourth year of Engineering, studying Computer Science. We have a compulsory project and have to write a thesis by the end of both semesters. It is a great learning opportunity for everyone. And I couldn't believe it when this message popped up in my college WhatsApp group.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

I was stressed to finalise a topic too, but I was so much more excited. You have a whole year to work on something that you want to, with 5 day weeks instead of 6 because the University is nice enough to give you a day off to work - there is so much you can do with that time! And to think that people even consider getting their projects done by people externally makes me sad.

So here's a request to this sea of people who have no idea what they're doing, to those people so consumed by social media and I've been-there-done-that for both cases, or to everyone just procrastinating and letting their thoughts carry them away to a dark or unknown place; please keep yourself busy and do things with the knowledge of your motivation behind it. And if you don't know the answer to why, keep trying till you find things you actually enjoy.

Dance with your friends without caring about whether you look cool or not. Go to your terrace and look at how stunning nature looks at its wildest, blaring electricity in crazy amounts. Refresh, recharge. And then stop whatever you don't want to do. Start trying to find the best way out of things.

My tenth grade english teacher kept stressing on the win-win approach. Find out how you can all win in any situation because winning is so much fun. You don't want to do the project? That's cool. But you've got to do it. So might as well find something you enjoy, and club it with computer science so it becomes enjoyable. Make sure you're solving a problem, that it involves things you are good at and something you enjoy. With these three in place, you're good to go.

We all get carried away. Sometimes it is our emotions, sometimes money or competition. It can be the hunger for something, or the abundance of it. But when we do, it's nice to stop and think about the impact it can have in life before-hand. I guess we need to live in the moment and get carried away, but not too much.

Kanksha :)

Challenging Common Sense

When I first heard the phrase, "The whole is equal to the sum of its parts" in Geometry class, it seemed so common-sensical, I wondered why anyone would need to explicitly state it. Few years later, I studied a different version of it as a concept under Gestalt Psychology, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." This went against simple mathematical logic but on studying it theoretically, I understood the depth of meaning it held. And when I began to see how it's a principle I've learned to use to cope with stressors, it seems like a wonderful philosophy!

This moment of insight occured during a casual conversation that went like this:
Friend: How do you let go so fast?
Me: I tell my brain what to think.
Friend: So your brain tells your brain what to think?
Me: No, I tell my brain what to think. Because my brain is just a part of me *cue: ah-ha moment* and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

This got me thinking further. We have several thoughts running through our minds and various emotions we experience through the day. We make decisions, some good, others not-so-good. We work, we play, we build relationships, we break relationships. And what we ultimately are is a sum total of all these experiences we've had (along with our genetic, physical and psychological make-up), right? Wrong; because we're humans, not machines. The different parts don't simply come together to make us who we are. They interact with each other in unique, dynamic ways. And these interactions between the various "parts" of us, add more to our existence. And that it why the whole is greater than merely the sum of its parts.

Back to using it to cope, I remind myself that I am bigger and stronger than these parts that seem to sometimes overpower me. If there are upsetting thoughts distracting me, I can control them. If I'm in a bad mood, I can change it. If I'm heartbroken (lol), I still have lots of other parts functioning just fine. I am a bigger whole and do not need to be threatened by a small part that's giving me a hard time. My heart is just one part of who I am, so is my brain and so is everything else. Even if all of them put together, decide to ruin my day, they can not (until I permit them), because I am greater, more powerful than any of these individually or combined.

Your brain is just one part of you. Don't let it enslave you. YOU tell your brain what to think, don't let it feed you thoughts. You decide what you want it to think. Don't forget who the master is!

-Aditi