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It is never personal, you're not the protagonist

It's so easy to become offended. It actually comes pretty natural. Someone says something.  You feel it's directed at you Strong reaction follows No need to react, it's got nothing to do with you as a person Imagine some remarks about academic work versus manual one, a bit dismissive about the latter. You don't have a degree and never wanted one. You know very well it takes years of experience and training to do what you're doing. Talent is involved too, as some people do have "two left hands".  You still feel you should add something to the conversation, but not sure if it is going to be well-received. No need to enlighten the other party right now Most people think in terms of opposites. If it's not this, it's that and it can't be anything else. Certainty of one's convictions is also a form of self-reassurance that everything is stable in one's world. Other points of view cannot be allowed because they are disruptive. Cognitive disrup...

The old amulet and the oak tree leaf


 Google Lens is a magical tool, or should I write "magickal"?

It's a very short story. Rummaging through old boxes full of long-forgotten objects brought to surface this pendant.

No idea at first what it was and no memory of getting it, as a gift or an impulse buy.  Google Images did not work because it the snapshot was not in the right format.

Giving up was not an option, the pendant was definitely an amulet of some sort, what if giving up the search meant giving up untapped powers?

Random clicking through drop-downs has never been appealing, but curiosity is the best engine.  The photo opened in Chrome, right-click, noticed 'Search images with Google Lens' and here it was, in its full copper and bronze splendour.

A Shri Yantra charm or talisman, sold by at least ten different online shops. I could get myself other kinds of Yantras or read at length about them online. Could I?  

Of all possibilities opened up this morning I chose to retrace my steps and test Google Lens again.

It worked in a different magical way. A leaf, dotted with raindrops and lying on a suburban pavement,  stopped being anonymous. It is an English oak tree leaf.  Just a different type of Yantra.




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