Five Lessons to Learn from Quarantine

It is 1.11 am, March 23rd, 2020, and we in India had our very first lock-down yesterday, this is the new normal now, globally. It is what the whole world is talking about, These are some very peculiar times, feels like a plot right out of a science fiction movie. If somebody told me four months ago that there would be a virus that would force the world to stay home, and terrified of other humans, I'd tell them to go find their marbles. 

What we can all learn from these ridiculously surreal time:

1. As a believer, I truly believe nothing happens without reason. Every single event, regardless how little or catastrophic, has been brought to us for a reason. What could the reason be for this crazy quarantine causing virus? It means we need to slow down. We need to spend more time doing the little things..we need to calm down! We are running after success, money, fame, goals constantly, and while it is great to have goals and ambitions..as Danny Tanner very eloquently stated "Too much of anything is not good, yes even ice cream." There needs to be a balance, we need to slow down physically and mentally. 

2.Finding comfort in your own company is crucial. I see people going crazy all over the world, as if staying at home is the worst thing that could happen. What happened to the appeal of "Netflix and Chill". The whole world seemed to want it, all of us wanted just to have one month of doing nothing. Here it is! We have it! It's been forced on us..and dare I say, this was the only way we would ever get it - A few weeks of staying home, and doing nothing! Is it really that hard to live with yourself? If it is then we need to re-think our lives. There is strength in being OKAY living internally once in a while, without any external stimuli. Imagine not needing anybody to be happy! 

3. Technology has consumed us! Literally, need I say more? Could we get through this self isolation without social media? Without YouTube? without Netflix? Without TickTock? Without Video Games? If all of these were also part of the "Stay away from.." list..what would we do? I've been wanting to read more but have I? NO! I don't know a lot of people who are spending this time reading books. I am wondering if we will ever have an internet quarantine? What would that be like? Imagine a month of no internet, just going out and spending all your time outdoors? reading books? Playing board games? Don't know about you, but I'm intrigued! Maybe a month without the internet is just what the doctor ordered. 

4. We can't plan everything. Destiny is real! Weddings have been postponed, graduations have been cancelled, family vacations have been delayed..when we plan events like this, we think about the weather, or we pray for everyone's health. Never do we EVER prepare for "what if a crazy virus infects the world, and we are asked to cancel the wedding?". Destiny is just that. It is unpredictable, it is pre-written. It is scary but also there's a sense of calm in knowing, we don't have to plan every thing because what's meant to be...WILL BE! 

5. Maslow's Need Hierarchy is real! Before the Covid19 shook the world at its core, we were obsessing over impeachments, political propaganda, religious warfare, Climate Control, Elections and now we are all preoccupied with the need for survival. Stocking up on groceries and medication and toilet paper is the new norm. We are all united in this need for survival, fighting the same enemy, united by this strangeness, at least temporarily.

Lets all learn from this. Lets take the lessons we learn from this into the future, the future after quarantine needs to be different. If we live exactly the way we did before and after this, then what was it all for? 

Pure Cosmetics Nude Collection eyeshadow palette (Limited edition)

I recently received this eyeshadow palette as a gift and I loved it so much, it inspired me to blog it. 

It is the perfect eyeshadow for everyday use. You can get a natural smokey look or a party smokey look, I've read reviews about it where people are saying it is too natural and good only for natural looks, but in my opinion the palette can actually be used in a variety of ways. 

Yes the colors are pretty light as the name implies "Nude collection", but you can achieve a bold smokey eye using the palette as well. 

That translucent film in the picture can actually be removed. At first I thought for 50 dollars they could at least provide a mirror, it took me 2 days to figure out that film could be scraped off to reveal a pretty large mirror.

The palette consists of 12 shades. 3 mattes and 9 shimmery shades..a dual ended eyeshadow brush which is actually pretty good and sturdy. Following are the swatches. 

   (Without Flash)

       (With Flash)

This palette is beautiful, colours smooth like butter, creamy, use a primer if you have oily eyelids.  I am very happy with it.

What is your experience with the palette? Do let me know.

Thank you for reading.

                   😊

Why accept?

BUT WHY MUST WE ACCEPT OUR FLAWS?

I've been thinking a lot lately and I realize how important it is not to accept yourself completely.

Complacence hinders growth, I've heard people ramble on and on about how "It is what it is", "This is me, take it or leave it", "I am not capable of change." 

I am guilty of those one liners too, and it took me a long time to realize how far from the truth that is. These are things we tell ourselves simply because we do not want to change or believe we can't change, or worse, are living in a little bubble that makes us believe that people love us for the worst qualities we possess. It could be our defense mechanism that saves us from even attempting to be different from what we've been our whole lives.

The fact of the matter is, there are few things that are more hindering that accepting yourself completely. I am not sitting here telling you to change yourself for other people, or become what others what you to be, What I believe is change yourself for yourself. Be a new you for you. Be yourself by being more you. Be who you are by being better. Change is not a bad thing if it makes you feel better. Change is not easy to bring about.. the closer to home the subject the harder it becomes. But nobody said life needed to be easy. Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone to explore more and see if you like it better that way. Even if it's something as simple as getting a new hair style..or a new hair color, or even trying a new lip color, which you would never even contemplate. I can't even put in words how much of a difference something so small and seemingly shallow can bring about in one's personality. This is coming from personal experience, a changed look can bring a change in your confidence, how you deal with life, with people, with yourself, changing your whole thinking, the way you see yourself, the way you see other people, the way you feel, the way you are, the way you think which obviously impacts every thing that comes your way. YOUR WHOLE LIFE. 

Every time someone tells me "I've been wanting to do this forever but I'm scared", I tell them to go for it. It might open up a whole new world. Thinking about starting a blog? go for it. Want to color your hair an obnoxious purple, go for it. Want to get a tattoo? Go for it. Want to go audition for X Factor? Go for it. Want to go do something crazy and silly and bizarre? Go for it. And yes this is kind of like a lecture to myself too because I am guilty of beating myself up over these things as well, and it's not about taking a huge leap and waking up tomorrow not recognizing your own reflection, this is about taking baby steps towards the new you that you might even get to love more than you thought. Cheers to exploring. 

Be your own kind of COOL

If getting even feels more like work than it does pleasure, just accept the fact that you are a nice, sweet, kind, caring person. I tried to change that about myself...I tried to be conniving, evil, manipulative because I started thinking those qualities were desirable...and if I dare say "Cool" but if being sweet, caring and kind makes me uncool...that's the risk I'm willing to take..and I'm here to make those qualities cool again. Being yourself is cool, being generous is cool, being nice to people you don't need to be nice to is cool, being accepting of flaws in others is cool, wishing people well is cool, trying to change for the better is cool, seeing good in everybody irrespective of how much of an effort it may be is cool, going out of your comfort zone is cool, being a rebel is cool, being quirky is cool, being conventional is cool too, being ordinary in your own extraordinary way is cool, being who you are when it is easier to be like everybody else is cool..

I choose to be unapologetic-ally "cool", do you? 

To Better Beginnings

I was at a weird place this passed week.

A land where 5 year old boys are sent outdoors with twenty year old women as their 

bodyguards.

A land where the bride sits in the corner of a room 4 days before her wedding, and feels trapped in her own house during her last few days there.

In a land where girls of all ages, married or unmarried crack dirty jokes few days before the wedding while wearing a veil, It’s a land of hypocrisy where the newly wed girl is constantly asked and teased and prodded about her wedding night by every other woman.

A land where the boys can roam around all over town trying to fool everybody including themselves that they’re “cool”, but a girl wearing sunglasses at noon is “trying to attract attention’’.

A girl is yelled at for stepping outside alone to get water, it’s an unofficial rule that girls can’t be seen at the corner store by themselves.

But hey no one stops the 10 year old criminals in the making from eve teasing. Free to  hoot and whistle at the burkha clad women passing by.

It’s a land where cell phones are infamous. A land where privacy is not a right but a luxury..seldom given.

I was there for 3 days and it was a suffocating experience for me, with every passing year it seems to get worse and worse! And what’s even worse is that this is the norm in rural India. No one seems to care. Even the women have accepted these blatant double standards, not just accepted they expect it! They cherish it, they appreciate it! Seriously?

But then it hit me…why just blame rural India…these double standards are prevalent all over the world.

Why is it that a baby is born to parents…but the father usually enjoys the fun part and the mother is called for if the baby cries or screams or needs a diaper change. Worse part? The child gets the father’s name, no questions asked!

Why are women always expected to be natural born chefs, why is it that even if the wife works as much as the husband..she is expected to come back home and cook as well! Why is it that even in this day and age men are still earning more than women for the same job. Example: Our Bollywood.

Why don’t parents stop their sons from dating whereas the daughters can’t even openly talk with the opposite sex. Why is it okay for husbands to make rules and regulations for their wives and live the life of a bachelor? Why is it okay for them to do certain things and not okay for their wives to do the same? Why is it okay for them to have female friends but not okay for their wives to have male friends?!

And what saddens me the most in all of this is… majority of women have accepted these man made laws of living…those who question it are judged and called names, which makes many of us pretend to accept them when in reality we do not. Lets stop pretending…verbalize your thoughts and be heard.

To new beginnings and an unprejudiced future. Cheers. 

Live in the now?

“The past is never where you think you left it.” 

― Katherine Anne Porter

While it is said one must live in the present,not worry about the future and forget the past, I beg to differ. Your past is what brings you to your present and present leads to the future.

Sometimes it is necessarily to live in the now and enjoy the moment; however, I would never recommend making irrational decisions that might have drastic consequences. Our past can haunt us in ways that we may not even deem possible.

We might sit in peace thinking 'Oh! The past is over…time for me to focus on the present' and BAM…little Ghosts from the past return to haunt you when least expected…when the repercussions can be horrifying, when your life depends on it, that’s when we realize how important the past is because it can’t be separated from our present. Yes be impulsive, go nuts but be wise and be ready. 

Birthdays: stairway to hell?

Birthdays: stairway to hell? 

So I happened to be in this village few days back…they call it a small town but to me it looks and feels like a village (No offense to villages or villagers).

Unfortunately I was there on my Birthday and to my utter shock I discovered that a lot of villagers believe it’s a sin to wish someone on their birthday. I had people downright, straight up, smack in my face refusing to say “happy birthday”…call me immature but birthdays to me are a big deal..one day in a year you can make someone feel special..and I try to make it a big deal for the people close to me, so this sinful birthday to me is a new concept! And one that I believe is specific to few rare individuals! HOPEFULLY!

It saddens me…there are so many things to worry about in this world…and yet people convince themselves to stay miserable..and come up with bizarre ways to make sure that they stay miserable…

Here’s to hoping someday there will be an open window in their caves!