The heating pad was placed beneath me. For 30 minutes I was enveloped in its warmth. When I turned to switch it off I realised it was not on. I touched to check. It was not hot. Where, then, did the warmth come from? Is the mere fact of having something enough to make us believe in its efficacy?
Many months ago I was visiting Delhi. On the way from the airport one could feel the dry heat like pinpricks. I looked in the distance, at the top of the trees and imagined snow on them, little white peaks touching the clouds, I imagined winter clothing. Suddenly, from the open window there was a draft of air, I could see dust rising and wayward leaves on the road flying. There was breeze.
What had happened? It was not my mind power that brought it about. It was nature doing what nature wanted to. But in the process of imagining, I had already dissipated the heat. Now a cool wind was blowing. And there was a slight downpour. I called up a friend to inform that I had reached.
“I know. Look at the weather!”
I strongly feel that auto-suggestion works. If you want something badly, with pure intent, you can get it. The problem is that most of us do not have that drive. However, I have been thinking about it…if I could imagine heat emanating from the thermo pad and feel a sense of relief for those few minutes, why can we not imagine that our lives are better than they are, our relationships are working fine, our work is going great?
You might ask: How can we fool ourselves? True. In these situations it is not you and a machine; you are dealing with people with active imaginations of their own. So I may imagine I have a great rapport with someone and that person is imagining that s/he has the worst possible vibes with me. What then?
If I knew I’d have the world at my feet and blobs of chocolate dangling near my mouth.
I guess I’ll have to stick to heating pads. Ultimately, it is all about a feeling of warmth...
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"Na jaane kis adaa se liya tu ne mera naam
Duniya samajh rahi hai ke sab kuchch tera hoon main"
2 comments:
hmm. that heating pad anecdote reminds me of the time i was high on valium (due to a lower-back problem) and actually saw a ghost. i saw it, and i think that it was because i was high so i could later tell myself that it was a mirage, and therefore not be scared.
Farzana, what will i do whiel visiting mumbai, that will be out-of-the-way, and allw me to exprience a crumb of true india? tell me, please.
egoyette@clhia.ca
Thanks Elise for sharing your experience...I manage the high without valium!
Re. Mumbai...I really don;t know what you would like because I have never seen you here (is someone pulling a stunt here?). Let the city overpower you.
There is anyway nothing touristy here, so you will find more crumbs than you can handle...
A link to give an overview...
http://www.indiantourismdirectory.com/west-india-tourism/mumbai-tourism.html
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