A Sealed Pen

Imagine you find a pen somewhere. It is a sealed pen and you have no way of knowing how much ink is remaining. It may stop writing after one word and it may let you finish a magnificent manuscript.

What would you do?

Would you write? Or would you just keep holding it doing nothing, just wondering, waiting for something – Anything.

OR

Would you start with a word and then the next? Maybe a doodle here and there. You might strike off a line or two.

It might get messy.

It might not turn out as magnificent as others. You may feel disappointed seeing what others are creating. It might make you feel insecure and open a door for self-doubts to creep in.

On the other hand, you might feel good about yourself if you feel what others are creating is inferior to your own creation.

You might not like or approve how others are using their pen. You might want to correct them. Tell them how it should be done. And you might not want to hear what others say about your creation.

Anything might happen. Or maybe none of this would happen. It may take an entirely different course.

The question remains – What would YOU do?

Would you keep going because you feel what you are creating is important or would you give up when you feel you are not good enough?

Now here is a secret – No matter what you do, the ink will keep flowing. If you don’t create anything with it, it will create a sorry little puddle somewhere. And eventually, you WILL run out.

In the end, you will be left with what you have created (or the regret of not creating).

It may be a mess. It may not be what you hoped it would be. It may have ended before you could write your ultimate climax. Or it may have lasted long – too long – after you felt you have lost all meaning.

Someone might read it. Maybe few will like it. It might give inspiration to some. Or maybe no one will even notice it. Maybe it will just get lost in the vastness of Time and Space.

Ultimately, all you can do is to write every word the best you can. Even when you mess up, keep going, keep correcting, keep improving.

As you might have guessed, the sealed pen is our life. We don’t know how much time we have. We don’t know if our plans will pan out or not. All we can do is live in the present and make the most of each moment we have.

Life and Death are the ultimate truth. Everyone is going to die one day. What we do with our time may change the world itself or it may remain meaningless. We have no way of knowing. We don’t know which step will take us on which path. We may make big plans and then start with enthusiasm and then suddenly death may decide to take over and derail our well-detailed plans. Or maybe we waste away our life but some random action, some random word may change the course of life itself.

It can seem depressing or it can seem to be freeing. After all, if there is no meaning then what does it matter what we do or don’t do. Well, it matters in the present moment. Right now. This is where we need to focus on. Not what we did and not on what we want to do.

Meaning of life resides at the moment we are currently living.

The current situation in the world is showing how fragile the world is. How easy it is for plans to come crumbling down. Who would have thought a month ago that almost all the countries in the world will be under some or the other kind of lockdown? Long term plans – graduations, weddings, and so much more had to be altered. We have absolutely no control over these.

So what do we have control over? How we react to the changing times. That’s what we can control. When we can’t control the action, we control the reaction.

What I am doing may not have any relevance in the grander scheme of things. But it matters to me. If the action I am doing brings me joy at the moment, then it is worth doing. That’s what I am reminding myself. That’s what I am doing these days.

What I write using the sealed pen may be grand or it may turn out to be absolute junk. What matters is that I have fun while using the pen.