The Thread

The Thread
I started this thinking about permanence. The property of being able to exist for an indefinite duration. That is what the dictionary says about it. There is this cliché which people use all the time that change is the only thing that is permanent. And irritatingly enough that cliché is always, ALWAYS said with an air of maturity , with an authority that proclaims itself to be derived from the most levitating and enlightening of experiences, with pity very similar to that shown by a human to a hurt pet puppy. And I always, ALWAYS feel like saying “Really? Sheesh...man...I never knew”. And I don’t because I have a very pessimistic notion that the sarcasm would be lost on them.

Of course I am not really angry at them. Just miffed by the truth of that statement. And to an extent by the tone of the person which wants to convey the image that they in fact actually enjoy the non-permanence of stuff and it’s the lesser mortals who can’t let go offthe need for attachment. And if the person is not that a hypocrite, he/she is probably a nice person trying to be sympathetic . The only snag being it’s not sympathising. I just hope everyone accepts it someday. There is nothing called consolation. At least we all suck at it. In my opinion the best way to console somebody is just being there for that person and keeping our mouths shut. People don’t realise it but it is highly unfair when somebody tries to underplay the impact or importance of the “lost” thing in an attempt to console. I would prefer to be told “Yes. It was a big thing to you. It must be very hard indeed to face this disappointment. I hope you will take it in your stride” or something like that instead of “It was not that great anyway. It doesn’t matter. There are other things you can get.” Anyway, personally I am always tongue tied in situations like that and I am usually never tongue tied, whatever about me gets tied, it’s never my tongue. But what does one say anyway? I always think that being there is more important anyway. (I know..Self justification. Pardon me)

So anyway I started thinking about it. What is permanent?

Is Saturday permanent? No. It’s just one day of the week.

Is Calvin permanent? No. Bill Watterson stopped Calvin in 1995.

Is health permanent? No. We never know what a test is going to tell us. Heck. We don’t even know when we would be forced to take a test.

Are jobs permanent? No. Its recession isn’t it?

Is contentment permanent? HA HA.

Is happiness permanent? No. Since I “Ha HA”ed to the question whether contentment is permanent.

Are friends permanent? Er. ..er..

Is Obama permanent? Isn’t he the one who talked about the coming of change?

Are our degrees permanent? Hopefully.

Are pups permanent? No. They grow too fast.

Is our childhood permanent? No. We grow faster than pups.

Are our memories permanent? Selectively.

Are our prejudices permanent? Hopefully not. But unfortunately yes.

Are our sins permanent? I think this is too heavy for my blog..You know..My blog is not THAT serious. ;)

Are laptops permanent? I think they have something called batteries.

Are our goals permanent? I don’t think we even know what goals are in the first place.

Are lives permanent? No. We die.

Are corrupt politicians permanent? No. Some of them die.

Is affection permanent? I suppose so. Somebody or the other is expressing it to somebody or the other

Is our affection permanent? Yes. Though for some people the person receiving it might change from time to time.

Are our beliefs permanent? I don’t know. And I don’t know which answer is ideally right, yes or no.

Are nations permanent? No. No comments.

Are continents permanent? No. They silly keep moving and hitting “on” each other.

Is our lifestyle permanent? No. I used to wear diapers and now I don’t.

Ok.. I think I need to stop..I sometimes keep writing because it’s fun talking like this. ;) Anyway my point in this is that almost, almost nothing is permanent. And we don’t feel bad about them all. But some things we wish it to be permanent. Or at least after sometime we think it would have been nice if something had been permanent. But inherently we like permanence in some way. But we like change in some way too. Aspirations, ambitions, wishes everything underlie a desire for change. Some change. Some form. And many a times its probably denied to us, What we wish; What we want; What we desire; What we dream about; What we keep thinking about;

On the other side, “loss” is sadness. Disappointment, loss, disillusionment everything underlie a desire for permanence. And sadly and ironically enough this is probably denied to us too. What we don’t want to change; What we want to hold onto; What we think defines us; What we think is our purpose; What we want to always belong to; What we want to belong to us always;

Yes. Probably nothing is permanent. And we like it sometimes. And we hate it sometimes. But there is a common thread to both these sides of us. A common reaction. A common defence. A common reason to go on. A common need to continue. A common voice that eggs us on.
Sometimes this common thread, as much as we need it, makes us feel stupid to ourselves, makes us look stupid to others, makes us question it, makes us doubt its purpose, and makes us want to stop it. But it holds on.

And for the blessed soul (or should the adjective be wretched?) it’s invincible.

It’s called hope.