Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Who Knew?

I always joke with friends that I was born on a very insignificant day. No one worth knowing shares my birthday. Sorry Mila Jovavich and Giovanni Riabissi that you don’t count. If I was born a day earlier or a day later well then I would have the honour of sharing my birth day with the likes of Brad Pitt, Katie Holmes, Beethoven. But alas it was not to be. Or so I thought…

I have been reading this book, titled “The Red Book”. It had a bit on Rumi, who I have come to appreciate ALOT now that I can read his poetry in english. I know I know. I should really be reading it in farsi, but lets face it my farsi is crap. I’d never ever have the fortune of learning anything about persian literature if I relied on my broken farsi.

Anyhoo, I have been reading alot of Rumi as well as Hafez. Let just say I am looking for some answers, and well they are both very wise men, whose wisdom is still relevant given the passage of time. So imagine my delight in finding out that my birthday is the day that the turkish dervishes celebrate “sema”. My birthday is the day Rumi died, and dervishes chose that day to do their riutual of sema, twirling in ecstasy and connecting to the divine, just like Rumi did 100s of years ago in longing for his beloved Shams, God, and the divine. My birthday is the day that Rumi finally re-united with his beloved. Wow!! Now that’s significant ....

So come Dec, on my birthday, I will be celebrating with my own sema. Twirling like dervish and lighting up my own divine spark.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Random Musings...

Here’s a thought for you.... You know how you are driving along, you see someone trying to turn in front of you and you let them in? And then they drive away, like letting them in was their God given right? Not to sound petty, but after 8 years of having lived in California ( I moved from Canada, where last I checked people still waved) , this is still something I have not gotten used to. What happened to a wave to say thanks?

Here’s what I think. Our car’s are these metal boxes that keep the outside world out. We feel like we are in our own little world. Don’t need to speak or talk to anyone. I am my own island. But we are also human, social creatures and part of the network that is humankind.

Raising a hand to wave is more than just acknowledging that you appreciate a total stranger doing something nice for you. It’s not just about manners and being polite. It’s about connections. Establishing a link. Showing your humanity driving along in your metal tank. It’s about take a fleeting moment in our high speed, broadband lives to say, hi, I see your kindness and I raise it with a smile and a wave. Have a nice day too…

Next time you are on the road, and someone lets you cut in front of them, lets you merge on a lane, or basically tolerates your crazy ass driving, raise a hand and say thanks. Just try it. See what happens…