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Lush-green meadows.

The most scary sentence I ever read to date continues to be a Kantian (Immanuel) observation. “The starry night without, and the moral law within.” More dense and frightening than the scariest Hitchcock movie sequence, just about sums it up.

Reason 1. “The starry night without” is like a surprise blue bolt reminding me menacingly of the cosmic dust that I am composed of. Compared to the vastness of the universe I am a part of, the expression above made me feel like a void. The next part, “the moral law within” appeared like my fractured image  in a faultily crafted mirror.

The sudden awareness of the ‘me’ in ‘I’ added to the phobic confusion. The complexity of one’s inner life in consonance or dissonance with things external appeared to be the crux of the conflict or otherwise.

Coming to a grounded explanation, a haemostasis of sorts seamlessly blends the interior and the exterior mindscapes. How well or badly, I reconcile the 2 facets of mine on a day-to-day basis determines my ill or well being. When there is a serious disrupt betweeen the two, the ease changes into disease. In psychology, this theory is already known.

On a scale of 1 to 10, the golden mean of 5 and around 5 represent our regular condition dictated by uncertainties, apprehensions and fluid faiths. ‘1’ represents the ‘physical’ and ’10’ represents the ‘mental’ and most of us are poised between the two extremes.

Beyond now research findings hint at ‘possibilism’ and possibilians (neurology) in the place of atheism, theism and agnosticism. Particularly, an artist is at his best when he keeps the uncertainties and questions open ended. So, without rigidity, paintings, music composing, writing, filming or just any other form of expression one likes becomes freer and wider.

Coming back to the ‘Kantian observation’ imparting fear, I think the way I blend the inner self with the exterior self consciously, unconsciously and spontaneously defines who I am.

Getting the fear off the Kantian expression, I begin to give a more meaningful and peaceful turn to the meaning and in turn, my well-being. Arts, literature, graphics, crafts, music and cinema thus open up ready for multiple significations depending on one’s own being (plural readings). From the abstraction of fear to the joy of knowing each moment as an end in itself becomes possible. Placing the problems more simply, if I discover a gainful pursuit and that happens to be my hobby, the pursuit and hobby blend to form a great rewarding work. A way of dispelling the cosmic aloofness and creation of life’s meaning.

Summing up, the the instance of a nature lover who also happens to like photography, both inclinations seamlessly merge into one activity; the muddy stream turns into a clear rivulet. And that is how the lush-green meadows sprout…

G Balachandra Menon

G Balachandra Menon is a writer based in Kochi. His writings encompass a wide range of subjects covering arts, cinema, essays, short stories etc.

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