Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Words that make a difference.

Words have always played an important role in my life. From books to dialogues in movies, to things that people say aloud, if you can learn to look beyond the obvious and understand the profound, you would find many answers staring at you in the face. Most of us take everything that’s said or written at face value. Very rarely do we stop to psychoanalyze why a certain sentence was uttered or what was it that made a certain author write the things he has.

Yet most of us have been influenced in more ways than one by the things that we read. Good authors have the power to make you spend hours together pondering over the words they write. Words that make you question preconceived notions and beliefs. Or words that force you to think along lines you never knew existed. Either ways these are the words that will change your life. And that is what Ayn’s writings mean to me.

Most people I know who like her writing fall in two categories. One, who like her ideas cause they are radical, something they would never have been able to think up of. The other are the ones who have heard she’s good, and hence believe that its in vogue to rave about her work.

To me, Ayn Rand is my counselor and guide. During the formative years of my life, the things that disturbed me the most was that everything I genuinely believed and lived by, was something that was questioned by the world at large. Ayn’s writing gave me the strength to fight for what I believed in. They gave me a sanction to question, to understand and to form my own beliefs. She helped me put in words the creed that I had started living by. Hence no matter whether I write or not, my posts will always keep appearing with her words. The words that changed my life.

Thought for the day:
"To acheive you need thought. You have to know what you are doing and that's real power"
Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged

Morality

"Morality is the judgement to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, dedication to that which is good, integrity to stand by the good at any price."

-Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Things that make me write.

I am not a writer. I do not aim to inspire or move others by my writing. What I write is usually a monologue I have with myself. One of the main reasons I write is because, writing helps me get my thoughts in order. Usually there’s so much going on in my mind that I find it difficult to understand what exactly I am thinking about. Writing is my way of organizing myself, concentrating on a topic at hand without digressing and reaching a conclusion.

More often than not I end up writing when I’m sad, lonely or depressed. Hopefully, I always try not to let that reflect in my writing. When I write, there is no pretense. What I feel is what comes out clear and strong. And this is one of the main reasons I do not blog frequently. I feel vulnerable opening my deepest feelings in public. I know this sounds funny considering the fact that I only have like 5 posts put up. But this is probably the most honest post I’ve put up till date. (Consider this a justification to all my friends and readers, about why I refuse to write).

Till date I was under the impression that the only people who read the stuff I wrote, was my dear friend and advisor, Mr. Pinto and me. Today I had the good fortune to find out that there are other people too in the world outside who seem to take an interest in what I have to say. Needless to say (for today at best) I’m motivated enough to at least put up one more post.