Life by a thousand cuts

It’s been repeated so many times that it has lost any trace of meaning: ‘we are all creatures of habit’. Waking up at the same hour every day, buying the same brand of toothpaste and using the same type of toothbrush. Toaster set at 3 for the perfect slice of bread ready to be buttered, oven temperature at 220 Celsius or point 7 for the ideal roast.  Dinner at 6.30. Thankfully, the gods of consumerism and commercial greed will not allow too much self-indulging in the comfort zone. If they can’t change out habits, they will at least change our desires. What ambitions and lust for glory never achieve at personal level is easily done by advertisers. It would take most people a lot of persuading and motivation to move closer to a childhood dream. It only takes a couple of well-placed and well-crafted ads to stir up unknown hunger for a new perfume. Or car. Or cardigan. Holidays that involve lots of money, preparations and distant travel become a lifelong objective and no effort is spar

                        It is worth putting up a fight in defence of technology as a liberating force. Various Cassandras are prophesying a future of lives lost to non-flicker screens (before the pixel revolution, the flickering was an aggravating circumstance). With implacable periodicity, a study will unveil to the world cases of 'digital addiction', with most unfortunate consequences. Suddenly, going back to scratching beautiful drawings on cave walls  is desirable pastime and sending messages by word of mouth looks like a sane solution. Some say that technology is a ferocious creature that eats up its children, like ancient Cronus. Mythological allegories are always useful for doomsday scenarios. What if Cronus is actually eaten by its children? Not all of them, just those that would eat too much whatever is put in front of them. I was inspired to turn the allegory upside down by a videoclip with Sadhguru. He makes a very insightful comment about the ti

No words. No, it's not cheat day on daily blog posting.

We never step twice into the same river, let alone walk in the same forest As an armchair philosopher, quotes attract me. I devour them wherever I come across anything that looks like being a quote (such are the advantages of multiple digital channels), I automatically memorise them and even worse, I use them in otherwise normal conversations. I never tried to go any deeper into the mystery of having such a fantastic memory when it comes to famous quotes, while the same brain does not seem to care about house keys or mobile. Can it be a case of acquiring "fast wisdom", in an age of ads that promote "faster fast food"? Reading a whole book is is a slow experience, and wisdom, if any at all, comes in dribs and drabs. The reader is told lots of metaphors or small facts, goes through the maze of literary infrastructure and at some point, if paying enough attention, stumbles upon the memorable phrase. Take John Milton, for instance. How many people ca

Narcissus was about 15 when his adoring mother asked Tiresias, famous for his prophecies, if her son would live to a ripe old age. Tiresias answered in his cryptic way, that old age was within reach if the boy would never recognise himself. Otherwise put, if he would remain totally oblivious of his own appearance. Why was the mother so keen on probing the future? Was she anxious that her son’s beauty would give rise to jealousy in others, potential rivals in a girl’s affections? This seems to be the most linear explanation, but something is missing. Did the mother keep the boy away from anything that would reflect back his image? Ovid’s Metamorphoses do not provide any clue. All we know is that Narcissus kept rejecting any amorous advances, spurred by an ego that could not find anyone satisfactory enough. Hubris never went unpunished in the Classical world and Narcissus was no exception. At the end of a hunt, his thirst made him stop by the clearest of spot of water that had

How can anyone not be fascinated by the origin of words? Half of misunderstandings and miscommunication would disappear. The other half would be sorted out painlessly, usually round dinner tables or in cafes. Take photography for instance, and its fast-growing progeny, photos. Thank heavens for digital photography, otherwise the end of the world could come from a deluge of photo prints.  Dictionaries tell us that 'photography' comes from two Greek words which, taken together, mean "drawing with light'. It is such a delicate, almost diaphanous combination. Unfortunately, the weightless, imponderable nature of photography is not felt beyond its name. Once it's taken, a photo becomes the object of continuous scrutiny and if it is a portrait, or just a snapshot, recriminations and self-abuse follow. "You should have told me you're taking a photo", "I told you I didn’t like my photo taken', "Let me put on some make-u

A very short blog post, as befits the non-mobile friendly template. Honest, I would have thought that in this day and age, whenever inspiration takes us, we can just let run free and wild. Not on mobile.