Workplace Stress is Real

Lately I have been reading about depression due to work-stress and I am over-whelmed to see the volume of people on various forums and platforms expressing their suffering.

Sigh...

My personal life is great, I am happy and content with it but it's this other life that occupies most part of my active daily hours that is... causing damage.

I realise, for most us, it is not the work or the nature of it. It is the people we are working for and with. The bosses and colleagues who lack empathy and compassion. I wonder if they realise how they affect a person's life, how they turn an otherwise happy person into a miserable and hopeless being. Will they ever, for a moment, realise this? I don't think so...
And even if they do think someday, ohh... I shouldn't have said that or done that... it will be too late.

Late realisations rarely make a difference. 'Better late than never' is not always a good excuse to pardon yourself from your mistakes.

How to get out of this trap?
I need money to survive. I need a roof to live. I need food to eat. So, I need a job to pay me.
Even if I need less, I still need a little for every day. I cannot escape. I need to put up with the insensitivity of people. I need to toughen up. I need to go to work and do whatever it takes.

Sigh...

Things that help on certain lucky days:
- Being unproductive at work for 5-20 mins in a day in office. Because your productivity is never rewarded, just give your tired mind a break. For a little bit don't care for real.
- Call a friend after work and rant about your woes and the unfair things you put up with daily.
- Have a good dinner.
- Listen to music that elevates your spirits.
- Lose yourself in the warm arms of your beloved and just be there in that moment feeling fortunate to have true love in your life.
- Spend some time pursuing your hobby, even if for 15 mins... draw, paint, play music, go for a run, anything.

Well.. there still will be days when none of this would make you feel good, on such days, just breathe and let the time go by.

Sigh...

Moral of the story: Yes, money is evil. But people are the bigger evil. Compassion can really make a huge difference in the world. So be kind. And sometimes be blind... to those who aren't. 

When words don't help, turn to Mozart. :)

I am yet to learn if having too many dreams and ambitions is a curse or a boon. 

Time will tell.

Noon full of randomness

Today there's barely any work in office, which means I have enough time to do a proactive ad campaign and also work on a travel article. But I don't feel like working. It could be my laziness or the unrest that yesterday's office fiasco has created in my mind or both.

I just feel like lying on my bed and listening to music. Yes, that's all I want to do.

My today's playlist is full of soft, romantic music. Initially I was enjoying the feeling but now these songs are putting me to sleep. I should listen to some EDM.

Yesterday I made a big doodle after almost 25 days. It felt good.

Anyway, I had too much time to while away so I went on a survey in my studio. I asked my colleagues would they prefer to be with someone who is like them or someone who is the opposite.

Three out of five said they would be with someone who is not like them. They believe it's the spice of being so different that makes a relationship exciting. If two people are very similar, their relationship gets boring because there is nothing new to know. Whatever you like, your partner will also like. Whatever you dislike, they, too, will dislike. No fun.
One female said it is about being comfortable with the person. Opposite or not doesn't really matter.
And the last one says, "The person should like me, I don't care about anything else."

What I could gauge from this little research is that no one strongly propagated being with someone who has similar interests and perspective. Some were neutral and the rest voted for 'opposites-attract'.

Perhaps it's the fear of monotony and the death of differentness. People are scared of boredom. And it's justified. Boredom is a negative emotion, I had read somewhere. I also believe, it is a doorway to numerous other negative emotions.

This doesn't mean I agree with the majority. Because sometimes it is the differences that kill a relationship.

Opposite or not, years down the line, you eventually know the person enough to not have any newness left to them. Excitement in a relationship is not restricted to contrasting choices and opinions. It is all in the head. You have to keep discovering new things all along the way. People keep changing so there always will be something new to know. Embrace those changes as newness.

It will benefit you in two ways:

1. You will not complain about the changes your partner undergoes 
2. You will have an opportunity to rediscover them and your relationship

That's all for now.
I should work.

A gift from nature

I am back from the mountains.
I am back from the snow.
I am back from the river.
I am back from the paradise.

Or may be I am not. I left a little of me there and brought back a little of them all.

It was a breathtaking journey. With every small patch of land, I learned more about me. It was a satisfying feeling. Just me and my backpack.

There are too many words coming to my mind at the moment but I do not feel like putting it all together right now. Piece by piece I shall keep posting.

I am happy to be working again. My work is as important to me as travel. It, too, defines me in a way.

Anyway,
This trip has been extremely special to me. Apart from adding a new dimension to my thinking, it has introduced me to a new side of me.
It seems like Mr. God is playing a prank with me. I hope he is not. I don't have that kind of an appetite for humor. I have taken a leap of faith. It's scary. It's exciting. It's beautiful. It's alleviating. It's fulfilling.

My heart tells me, it's a gift from nature, from Mr. God. 

Sometimes uncertainity is good.

There really are no free lunches in life.

I can see months of uncertainity coming up, and I am glad for them.
It is better to have that thin ray of hope than having nothing at all. So I am happy, and more than that, charged up to do some mindblowing work.

It is so important that you learn a few ways of motivating yourself. 

  

That copywriter chick - 2

When the shitrail thing happened with me, I was so agitated, I wanted to tell everyone that a thing as gross as this really happens in Mumbai. I wrote a blog and published it on social media as well, and as a co-incidence a small weekly that is run by a bunch of journalism students in Delhi, contacted me for similar kind of articles. I gave them the link to my blogpost, they liked it enough to publish it in their newspaper on the next day. I shared that as well on FB and twitter, and got a good deal of appreciation for it.

People from the same field won't consider it to be an accomplishment while those not from this industry regard this as a great achievement. As for me, this is just another step towards becoming all those things that I had dreamed to be as a child and that I wish to be now.

Current Playlist:
Jolene - Miley Cyrus
Pimpin smokin dro (Hardwell mix)
If I lose myself - Alesso vs. One Republic
Thousand years - Christina Perry
Chaudhry - Amit Trivedi vs. Mame Khan
Kattey - Ram Sampat, Hard Kaur and Bhanvari Devi

Also, there was an ad contest I wanted to partake in, but I did not have a motivated team. I can write, but I can't design ads, so there went my opportunity to do some good work.
Nevertheless, I am hoping to do some good proactive work in the coming days, and I am hoping that my team actively supports me.
One other thing that I have learned now is that if you don't have an enthusiastic creative partner, you cannot think of participating in contests, let alone winning them!

I have also been doing some travel writing in the meanwhile. Waiting for it to get published now.
I have realized and am slowly accepting the fact that I am more of a writer than a copywriter. This does not mean that I am not going to be a good copywriter, it just means that I will be writing a lot of other things along with ads and marketing collateral. 

Sigh...

It's Hot!
Thank God for the AC!

Okay so...
Those who say that you have changed and they don't need the new you in their life, never really knew you.
Life is divided into umpteen phases & those who stand by you in every of your phase, only know the true you.
The one who says, "You were an emotional & caring angel earlier and now you've turned into a carefree & outspoken bitch," is here to hamper your growth as a human.
Everyone has to see the bad side of life and if you become strong and not emotionally dependent on anyone, that's an achievement! If someone wants you to be an emotional sissy only so that they feel their own importance in your life, it's better to stay away from them. They define selfishness.
Perhaps they only loved those few qualities in you and not YOU, which is sad! Any person with such similar virtues will serve their purpose, it's not necessary for them that the person should be you.

Also...
No one will come to you when you sulk & brood. NO ONE. Put up a fake happy face and see how people will be hovering around you like bees.

Looking at the brighter side of life, I love my work.
Last week due to my laziness, some of my work had to suffer. I need to be careful about that bit.  

And...
I still get those "You are so lucky" & "Your life is so sorted" reactions from those girls, who are in a relationship or had a bad one in the past.
Haha... it's funny!
At work, all I hear is boyfriend talk! Initially it was annoying because the girls had nothing else to talk about but now I've grown used to it.
One female from work said and I quote, "Once you start seeing someone, that relationship becomes the most important of all other relationships in your life, even your friendships, and you cannot help it. It happens with everyone. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be."
I couldn't agree more with her. And it's valid, love is an exciting emotion and it sets you free because you finally find that ultimate feeling of happiness. So for the person who is the source of this ultimate happiness, it's only fair to put them on a pedestal.

So long bloggy doggy. Thanks, I feel lighter!

Be busy. Be fine.

As we grow up, we care less about the world and more about us.
Or maybe not... it's a plain observation and not a conclusion.

 Heart Attack- Demi Lovato
Skyfall- Adele

I try to keep myself as busy as I can. It helps.

When a couple of so called "best friends" break your trust at the same time, you lose all the faith you ever had. But, as days pass by, the trust on life, on God returns. Though it takes more than just a few days or weeks to trust humans again.

Be the one- Ne-Yo

Self-discipline is an essential requirement for every human being.

"The first and the best victory is to conquer self." - Plato

There are moments when you are not particularly everyone's favorite. In fact, you can't go any more farther from that. During such moments, it's very easy to feel lonely because you don't feel loved. So, go for the midway, try not to feel lonely or loved. You'll feel fine.

Good Intent- Kimbra
Aashiqui 2 - Melodious!

Finally, I decided my path after a lot of thinking, being restless and brooding for days. I sort of now know what I want to do. As of now, stability is something I need to hold on to.

Advertising is fun and intriguing. :)

http://thedreamsville.blogspot.in/2012/09/a-new-me.html - I still believe so and always will.

What goes around comes around- JT

Got to work. Toodles.