heaven sent hell away...

What's it been? Like ages?
a] i acknowledge the fact that there indeed is a state similar to a 'writer's block'
b] Writer's block can extend over aeons.

But what brings me back? Probably just the urge to write something down before I forget all about it. Of course, for all the days I've been away, it's not like the urge never arose. More like it didn't sustain long enough for me to actually put aside some time and do justice to it.
My indulgence today is merely to reflect upon what it is to understand the fragility of a mind. As always the observations and the opinions borne out of such observations are solely mine, and limited in every scope by that very fact.

The lives we lead make for countless developments, and one such development is the impressions left behind on our ever-so impressionable minds. 'Impressionable minds' - the phrase has such an aura about it. Not that I was able to master its usage, nor comprehend what it means in all its entirety until a good enough time passed by. I recall my first understanding to do something with wet sponges, and how a clear impression is left behind if I were to press my finger against its surface. Figuratively speaking, I now feel that I wasn't much off the mark. At least that's precisely the quality which the 'impressionable' part endows upon the mind. And just like it is with the wet sponge, it is so with the impressions left upon our minds. To conveniently group these impressions, I'll stick to the time-tested approach of stating - there are 2 kinds of impressions: One which influences our perception of all things, animate and inanimate, except for our self. And the other which plays tricks inclusive of our self, but of course. It is with the latter that I shall concern my current discourse with.

Some days back I came across an interesting dialogue -
person A: Describe a common misperception people have of you?
person B: blah, blah and blah
person A: What's the difference between perception and misperception, if it's all about an 'apparent' understanding of things?
Not getting into the semantic analysis of whether 'misperception' is a valid word, nor whether person A's question is entirely correct, what I particularly liked about the brief dialogue was the mental conflict it exposed in such a short exchange. A conflict which is rooted in the fundamental flaw of our mind to act upon an urge to classify things as good and bad. Now, when we reconsider the thread about having impressions about our self, along with the afore-mentioned fundamental flaw, it does indeed make for some very interesting observations.

Courage, high moral-fibre, mental fortitude, and a whole lot of such over-abused qualities tend to carve out comfortable corners for themselves in our minds. Most of our lives are actually spent without ever really jolting those corners. The simple routines of our utterly engrossing lives don't leave much room for such things. Alas, conforming to the cosmic relevance of unfortunate oddities, there are the unfortunate few who get to face events which evict some or most of the comfortable, corner dwelling qualities to the fore of our lives. People emerge from such events having hopefully undergone some or the other transformation. The transformations themselves range from the mildly determinable to the abnormally aberrant. But it's not like I have witnessed the entire spectrum. The spectrum just happens to be a sweeping generalisation with an inherent ability to make obvious sense. What has time and time again irked my curiosity has been the cases wherein the lives assume a somewhat inescapable mutability. Mostly it's an oscillation between denial and acceptance. The eventual realisation can ironically be considered to be another 'impression' on the mind. The battles fought for the battles within can be the last thing one wants. It can, by all means, define what you are, lead you to that elusive state of peace with yourself - it's just that the transitions never quite seem to relent in their ability to make for disturbing times.