My last blog post was on 22nd July, 2009. I wasn't sure I would be able to revive this blog as I had long forgotten the password but such is the magic of Google that all I did was type blogger.com into the address bar and was brought to this page. The thought that Google knows everything usually scares me, but this time I was pleased.
So, I have decided to resume blogging after a gap of eight-and-a-half-years. I did a lot of writing in the intervening period, first as a journalist and then as a post-graduate student. There was also some diary-writing, but it was very personal stuff so I didn't even think of posting it on this blog. Somewhere along the way, I lost the habit of purposeless writing--writing not aimed at venting or at making sense of a problem. Writing that flows from staring into space, which I do a lot of. I had forgotten how much fun that can be.
The past two years have been tumultous, to put it mildly. I was fortunate enough to find someone who guided my writing towards therapeutic purposes and it worked wonders for me. It taught me a lot about myself but more importantly, it taught me to learn to listen to myself. To try to figure out what I really want, which isn't easy in a world which has pretty firm ideas about what I should want.
But, I am over the therapy phase of my writing and am ready to start a creative phase. So, readers who stumble upon this blog need not fear an ambush of angst. My life is certainly not angst-free but at least it is not angst-dominated at the moment (knock on wood). I feel like I have become a more open person over the past two years and I am ready to engage more with the world. By blogging, rather than (or in addition to) keeping a personal journal, I am hoping to cultivate this newfound openness.
I am writing this post a few hours before I leave for England to resume my post-graduate studies. It is an exciting time for me and I hope that excites shines through my writing. Last year, for the first time in my life, I wrote poetry. Clunky, angst-ridden poetry, but poetry nevertheless. I also tried my hand at limericks and haikus and was surprised by how much better I was than I had anticipated.
So, this blog will have a mix of prose and poetry and will hopefully be less "intellectual" and judgmental than it was nine years ago. More on that later but, for now, I will end with a quote that resonates with me deeply.
There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul - Arnold Bennett.
So, I have decided to resume blogging after a gap of eight-and-a-half-years. I did a lot of writing in the intervening period, first as a journalist and then as a post-graduate student. There was also some diary-writing, but it was very personal stuff so I didn't even think of posting it on this blog. Somewhere along the way, I lost the habit of purposeless writing--writing not aimed at venting or at making sense of a problem. Writing that flows from staring into space, which I do a lot of. I had forgotten how much fun that can be.
The past two years have been tumultous, to put it mildly. I was fortunate enough to find someone who guided my writing towards therapeutic purposes and it worked wonders for me. It taught me a lot about myself but more importantly, it taught me to learn to listen to myself. To try to figure out what I really want, which isn't easy in a world which has pretty firm ideas about what I should want.
But, I am over the therapy phase of my writing and am ready to start a creative phase. So, readers who stumble upon this blog need not fear an ambush of angst. My life is certainly not angst-free but at least it is not angst-dominated at the moment (knock on wood). I feel like I have become a more open person over the past two years and I am ready to engage more with the world. By blogging, rather than (or in addition to) keeping a personal journal, I am hoping to cultivate this newfound openness.
I am writing this post a few hours before I leave for England to resume my post-graduate studies. It is an exciting time for me and I hope that excites shines through my writing. Last year, for the first time in my life, I wrote poetry. Clunky, angst-ridden poetry, but poetry nevertheless. I also tried my hand at limericks and haikus and was surprised by how much better I was than I had anticipated.
So, this blog will have a mix of prose and poetry and will hopefully be less "intellectual" and judgmental than it was nine years ago. More on that later but, for now, I will end with a quote that resonates with me deeply.
There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul - Arnold Bennett.
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