Just like that.

There are some instances in your life, when you meet someone, and you instantly connect with them. It's not often, but it happens. It doesn't mean your similar, it may even mean that you're completely different. But you just- get along, to be precise.  The conversation isn't forced. It's not awkward. It's smooth, and fun, and, well, different. 

The question is, is it just you, or does the other person feel this connection too?

Carrot and Potato

Tonight's midnight conversation (after a pretty successful cooking session; yes, you read right!) consisted of such a vast range of topics that it's left me completely confused as to what to blog about. Take atheism, culture, and religion. Add that into a boiling pot of future goals, lack thereof, relationships, and the concept of being #foreveralone. Stir twice, add in a pinch of happiness, a dollop of confusion and a cupful of making fun of a certain someone's male characteristic (singular).
You've got yourself a pretty tasty dish. 

Chill out.

Sometimes, we need to take the backseat in life and just relax. I mean, yes, do what you need to do (in my case, a million assignments and the constant intake of chocolate-filled substances), but apart from that, don't bother too much. If you do, it's only going to lead to you obsessing over things that needn't be obsessed about. Let's say I've been there, done that. Maybe I'm still there, knowing me. But if there's one thing I've learnt, it's that this constant obsession about insignificant things that can very easily be brushed off the table of your thoughts, is simply not worth it.
Trust me, I know. Channel your energy into things more worthwhile, things that will actually change something about you, about the world, about your life.
Ah, if only I took my own advice. 

What you see is what you get?

So, another really interesting midnight conversation with a friend (when we were supposed to be studying really hard, mind you), was utterly shocking for me. He made me realize something so very true- it all boils down to looks. I mean, yes, I've always been cynical in terms of the shallowness of humanity; I myself have displayed various streaks of shallowness in the past. However, when put into perspective, so many acts are based on looks- on how attractive the other person is, how attractive we think we are. People who are attractive get away with a lot, have the more outgoing and confident personalities, and genuinely do draw more attention.
We took into account the people around us. The extroverts are, in most cases, the people who are confident about their looks. Even people who aren't inherently extroverted gain the most attention, care, and company, if they are good looking. Very rarely do you find an exception to this case, unless the persons' personality greatly outweighs their looks.
This conclusion, and, well, realization after taking a look around, was a genuine eye-opener for me. For someone who claims to thinks so much, I have surprisingly never thought of things from this perspective; probably because, up until now, my views on shallowness have been slightly selfish.

Across the seven seas.

If there's one thing that I really, genuinely know I want to do, it is to travel. There's a high chance that i'll choose my job based on how often it will get me to cross oceans. Going to new places has always fascinated me. It's so much fun and it is an experience like no other. New people, new cultures, new sights to see and even food; despite being a vegetarian it's still pretty interesting, and, well, challenging. Languages. Artifacts. I know it's what I want, and I hope that some day I do end up traveling a lot, seeing more than I ever imagined I would. I know it would make me happy and leave me satisfied. Longing for more, but satisfied nonetheless. 

Stop.

So, it's very easy to make your judgement, pass your comments and jump to your own conclusions about the way someone might be dealing with a situation. However, I think it's horribly unfair to do so without knowing even one percent of the situation that the other person might be going through. Their actions are influenced by so many factors- like their personality, the personalities of the people involved, and past experiences. Whether their moves are smart or not, whether what they are doing is something that you would do or not, it must be understood that they are doing what they are doing for a REASON. There's a reason why they deal with it in a certain way, and not the way that you would deal with the situation. Understand that, accept that. 

Neutrality

I think this world would be a much better place if kids were brought up gender neutral. I'm not talking hardcore gender neutrality where people aren't even identified as boy and girl- those differences are bound to be there due to different bodily functions that nature has put forth to us. I'm talking about a more personality-oriented perspective. Bring up children without typical gender stereotypes. Don't teach them the conventional, rigid gender roles that society offers us. Let them be free to experiment, to lean more towards an androgynous behaviour. After all, androgynous individuals are believed to lead the most all-round and fulfilling lives.There is never a one-size-fits-all.
Gender neutrality can eliminate any sort of gender discrimination that society so often sees. Issues like same-sex marriages would not be "issues" any more. People would be free, open, less held back by all these restrictions and notions as to how they're supposed to be, how the should live their lives, what they are supposed to like, what they are supposed to dislike. How they're supposed to look, to dress. Oh my. It's a pain, isn't it? So much time and effort unnecessarily wasted, and for what? To be unhappy at the end of it all anyway, because you know that you're only doing what you're supposed to do and not what you want to do?
I think, if I were to ever have kids, I'd do my best to make sure they aren't affected by society's cruel stereotypes. I've seen how destructive stereotypes can be, and it's not something I'd want for my children, or for anyone in fact.