Smile for World Peace finally has its own domain! I want to personally Thank every single person for reading and keeping up with my blog. It motivates me each and every day to keep going and spreading my message! 

Stay tuned because a lot of good things are in the works to expand Smile for World Peace and there will be a plethora of opportunities for you to get involved in the movement!

Keep following and most importantly, keep smiling!

You don't need a tiara, just do what the penguin does!

Image Source: Positivity Toolbox Group on Facebook

I left home for work this morning at 11:13AM and figured I'd have enough time to stop for an iced capp on my way to work. I knew that if I could make it on to the highway by 11:20, that I'd make it in time. Usually it takes about 4 minutes to get to the tims and another 3 to buy it and bounce. There was an unusually higher than normal number of cars on the street and with the numerous stop signs and signal lights, it was 11:20 by the time I made it to tims. I got my small iced capp with whipped cream, ahh heaven, and by the time I hit the highway, it was 11:24. That mean't I had exactly 6 minutes to get to work or I'd be deducted 15 minutes.

15 mins = $3, I did the math in my head and dismissed the idea of speeding to save $3. And then I remembered, it's pretty much the cost of an iced capp. Screw it, I was definitely going to make it on time. So I made my way to the left-most lane a.k.a. the fast lane and steadily increased my speed to 120 km/hr. That's it. I'm not going past this, I thought to myself. And then I noticed that there was a white car tailgating me from behind. I'm not into getting white things into my behind. Pun intended. So I steadily increased my speed to 130 km/hr. I looked over at the time and it was 11:27. Crap, I still had a solid 7 km to go. OK, white man, you wanna get ahead of me? So I sped up until I hit 150 km/hr. I look back and see the white car still tailgating me. Isn't it illegal to go at 150? I'm thinking to myself. There is no way I'm going beyond 150. The time is now 11:29. I look at my rearview mirror to see red and blue lights flashing from the top edges of the white car. 

Crap. My heart starts beating at 200 bpm. I am so late now.

I slow down to 100 and switch lanes, all the while thinking I'm screwed and wondering how I'm going to explain this one to my parents.  As I switch lanes, the white car zooms past me.

How I escaped that one? Beats me.

Luck?

***

It is the end of April, I am sitting in the new cafe that is open in the IC building at UTSC when Nilo walks in with a friend of his. I'm working on some essay question prep for my POLB91: Comparative Politics of Development final when Nilo sits across from me with his friend. After some formal introductions, we chit chat for a bit and then decide to head out to the library. As we make our way out of the cafe and through the doors, I pressed the button for the doors to open automatically and stood before the doors and said, "Ah, doors are always opening for me", and walked by with a bounce in my step and my head held high.

"Have you ever heard of pronoia?", asked Nilo's friend as we waited to cross the street by the signal lights.

"You mean paranoia?", I replied.

"No, no. Pronoia", he said.

After digging through my mental dictionary to no avail, I figured it was best to listen to what he had to say.

Pronoia, he explained, was the opposite of paranoia. Paranoia is the sense that everything in the universe is conspiring against you. Pronoia is the opposite, it is when the universe is conspiring in your favour to give you what you want. 

I thought he was complimenting me, so I thanked him.

And he sternly told me that it was not a compliment.

Did that mean I was cocky? That I thought the world revolved around me? That everything and everyone worked such that it benefitted me?

To be honest, I can be a bit cocky at times, but only in the presence of my best friend and no one else. And most of the time, it's with great sarcasm. So I took his comment with a grain of salt. And moved on.

***

I pulled up into the parking lot at my workplace at 11:32AM and knew that I had one minute to get to the punching machine. My usual spot close to the doors was taken. OK, I was definitely not gonna make it on time. So I parked in a corner and made my way to the doors, up the stairs, and through the hallway. I was dwelling on the loss of $3, in other words, the money I would've spent on an iced capp. I finally got to the machine with a minor heartbreak, pulled out my card and noticed that it was 11:33 AM. HUH? I dropped in the card, waiting for the clock to change to 11:34 AM, the card came out and read 11:33. 

God saved the queen, I whispered to myself as I walked in and settled down by my cubicle.

I sat down and told Connor--my co-worker--about my eventful morning, and he replied with "you got real lucky!"

Lucky? TWICE in a row? 

No. This had to be more than luck. I was suffering from serious pronoia.

So what is luck? According to dictionary.com, it is the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, etc. 

And pronoia?
I couldn't find it on dictionary.com but according to wikipedia, pronoia describes the sense that there is a conspiracy that exists to help the person. It is also used to describe a philosophy that the world is set up to secretly benefit the person. 

Now.. what about karma?

According to dictionary.com, karma is the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation. 

Despite that wordy definition, we've all experience karma in action in our own lives and I, for one, am a strong believer in 'what goes around comes around'.

Luck. Pronoia. Karma. What do these three entities have in common?

That you are what you emanate. And that you create your destiny. In other words, you create your own luck. Just like you create your own karma, good or bad.

Think of it as zero sum. You do good, you get karma plus points. You do bad, you get karma negative points. And those points will find a way to neutralize one way or another, by returning those plus or negative points back to you in the form of a favourable or unfavourable circumstance. Luck is used to describe an indescribable event or circumstance that has no logical explanation. Meditate on this. What is luck? 

Luck is karma. 

You create your own luck.

And how that 'luck' is returned to you is decided by that higher power, it comes in handy when you need it. Like this morning, I had a balance of karma plus points and that higher power decided that it wanted to cash in. Twice. 

Was I lucky? 

Was it karma?

Am I still suffering from pronoia?

Yes, yes, and yes. For they are one and the same.



P.S.: Speeding is illegal and I don't encourage it. I was sharing an experience and know that that will never happen again. Be responsible drivers! Please.

    "One act of kindness is enough to save the world", is a motto I started following a few years ago after noticing that small acts of kindness were contagious, like a domino effect. One smile directed towards a stranger or a friend instantly brightened their own state of being, and as a result, an ear-to-ear grin begins to emerge and they pass that on to another being, and so on and so forth.
    It's similar to that feeling you get when you've done something good for someone else without any reward or expectation, from a place of love and joy. You feel energized, vitalized, and fulfilled. I guess you can call it being high on happiness.
    Smiling, for me, has been second nature. I smile when I'm happy, sad, angry, or even frustrated. I smile when I'm irritated or impatient, I even smile for no reason and strangely, it seems to piss people off sometimes. Haha. Either way, what I've noticed is that by smiling, those not-so-good feelings seem to diminish, and they diminish fairly quickly.
    Now what is the point of this blog post? I truly have no idea. But what I hope you gain from this is to simply try it out. Let's do an experiment. Pick one day, today! [remember my post on the now] And every chance you get, smile. When you meet another person, when you look at the sun, when you look at the moon, when you're on your way somewhere and you read something you like or you listen to your favourite song. Smile at your food when you're about to eat. In other words, find any and all reason to smile. Regardless of whether that thing brings you joy or not. Just smile. If something upsets you, just smile. It may be an unfamiliar feeling to smile when you're pissed off, but try it! Just give it a shot. You haven't anything to lose.

Now how do you know you've done this exercise correctly?

When your jaw starts to hurt. 

And when it does, give me a holla and let me know of your experiment.

I will be waiting with a grin on my face to hear from you.

It was the morning of Saturday August 18th and my mother walked in at 8:40 AM, water dripping from her freshly washed hair, and said that I had twenty minutes left to sleep in. She had wanted me to go accompany her to the Murugan Temple annual festival where the deity strolls around the temple in an extravagant chariot surrounded by faithful worshippers. I was over it. Over the years, I have come to realize that my body is my temple and meditation was the strongest form of prayer and thus lost interest in visiting temples in general. I hadn’t gone to Val-Morin temple that much either this year, and the idea of getting squashed in a crowd at Murugan temple wasn’t appealing to me. I told my mother that if she bought me popcorn and cotton candy that I would go. She agreed. And so I woke up at 9:00 AM and headed to the shower.

I spent the better part of my morning getting ready and finally at 11:30 AM, drove off with my cousins and aunt to the temple. Once we parked and started walking towards the temple, I noticed the crowd. Never had I seen such a crowd this size at this temple before. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised. And then it dawned on me. That all these people, driven to this one place by their faith in God, or to check out girls/boys, to eat the popcorn/cotton candy (me), or just to get see what the festival was all about were all the same place at the same time. It was incredible to me how many people were here at this very moment. Most of these people were brought here by their faith in God. And Faith is a beautiful thing. As I was contemplating this, I ran into some old friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years and it was so refreshing and wonderful to see them. And then I heard Gretchen Rubin in my ear saying, “improved social interactions improve one’s state of mind” and it was very true. I was definitely glad I came. Faith had brought them here. Faith was the reason people had showed up.

I stood outside for a bit and when the crowd subsided, I made my way into the temple to ‘pray’. It was the first time I was in a temple and didn’t formally pray. I stood in front of the deity with my hands in prayer but I did not pray. I observed. I watched people pray. I used to stand in front of the statues for ten-twenty minutes at a time praying and chanting in my head. And now, I was standing there watching people. And what I observed stunned me. People of all ages, of all backgrounds, came to this one place to put their hands together, to bow their heads down, and to pray to a higher power. And it was genuine. I made the tour of all the deities and finally was back to the front of the temple and sat down with my mother. Yet again, my old self would’ve gone into a meditative state but, this time I observed. People prayed, while children played and ran around, the priests were busy doing pujas, people were tugging at each other to get through, some were up-dressed, others were simple, some smiled at familiar faces as they passed by while others were fixed on their prayers.

Faith was a beautiful thing. It brought people together to this one place where most seek refuge from their everyday problems, where they can speak to God, reconnect with old friends, eat some wonderful food, and enjoy the great weather. People still had faith, they believed that there was still a God despite the tragedies and wrong-doings going on in the world and in their own lives. People still had faith in God. And that renewed my faith in humanity.

More often than not, if you tapped into my head, you would hear "oh, I'll do my assignment tomorrow", "I'll save my next paycheque", "I'll go next time". A series of do-it-laters and procrastinating thoughts invade my head and I always end up rushing and panicking trying to finish up my work within the final seconds before it's due. Why is that? Why, even at the age of 20, have I not yet learned that I will never actually do it tomorrow. How tomorrow becomes another tomorrow, and eventually ends up being put off until the final moment, even months at a time? 

At the end of my first year of university in May, while summer was still young, I had looked so brightly upon the four full months I had to enjoy and relax and be fed by my parents and made a long to-do list. Low and behold, that list remains untouched and with less than three weeks left of my summer, I am looking at my list in despair. I keep putting it off until the next week, and the following week, and then I eventually end up forgetting about it altogether. 

I had just finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin this morning and she dedicates a month of her year-long search for happiness to being mindful and living in the present. I had read a number of essays and books on the practice of being mindful and being a regular meditator, I didn't particularly feel that I wasn't living fully in the present moment. In fact, I was very conscious of living in the present and living fully in the moment. Now, I realized that there was a link between procrastination and being mindful. 

As I was driving my father home from work tonight (his car broke down for the 50th time, poor Appa), I was contemplating on this very relationship. If tomorrow never comes, and the past is gone, then what is the answer? 

Now.

The answer is now. And like a bolt of lightning, it hit me. "Life is a series of 'now' moments". The past was a 'now' moment, the future will be a now moment, and now... well... you are living in it. So here is the key, here is the solution to procrastination. DO. IT. NOW. And even if you don't end up doing it physically in the moment, maintain the intention to do it now. Somehow or other, that 'now' moment will find you and you will do it. 

Now how do I know that this works? Well.. this blog post for one! I drove my father home at 8:55 PM and it is now 9:25 PM of the same night. And I have not procrastinated in writing this blog post. As I have with a number of other posts whose juice and excitement I have long forgotton all due to my thinking that 'I will do it tomorrow' when in fact, tomorrow will never come. Tomorrow is a notion of time that is somewhere in the distant future that cannot be reached. 

Do it now.

Don't live for tomorrow, or for one day. Live for now. Because your very life is a series of now moments. 

As a first-generation Canadian Tamil Sri Lankan, along with every other Tamil here in Canada, the States, Europe, and all around the world, we all share a common history. One of struggle, war, bloodshed, and heartbreak. My parents along with over 100,000 Tamils left the paradise-like "Pearl of the Indian Ocean" in seek of refuge from the guerrilla warfare taking place way back in the early 1980s. What's worse is, albeit it be subsided, the war has yet to see an end and peace has yet to return to the Pearl of the Indian Ocean; the island once highly coveted by the Portuguese and the British for its promising trade and highly intellectual and motivated peoples. 

I spent the afternoon watching "Peck on the Cheek", a heartwrenching story of a 9-year old adopted Sri Lankan girl who is adament on discovering her birthmother. Her parents, played by Madhavan and Simran, capture the heartbreaking departure and reunition of their adopted daughter with her mother in a war-torn village in Sri Lanka. Despite the accuracy of the depiction of war and the accents on the Tamils, this movie beautifully portrays the realities of war and the heartbreak, or rather, heartbreaks that ensue with the loss of a husband, a child, and even a grandfather. 

As I watched this movie, I couldn't help but think of my own parents. What seldom don't know and what I probably should not reveal here is the story of my father. Once a proud Tamil who would sacrifice his own life for his country and his people... that is, until his father smacked him across the head and sent him to Germany. My father never talks about his old days in Sri Lanka, and on one occasion, after a long debate with him, he finally shared with me his passion to save the Tamil people and the culture from the injustice that was taking place. Why was it that a Tamil could only go to university with a 98% and a Singhalese with a mere 60%? was the beginning of the civil war between the Tamils and the Singhalese. 

"It is through education that it is possible to save the world", once said Mahatma Ghandhi. And Ghandhi still lives through these words in Sri Lanka, India, and even here in Quebec in the hearts of students who are protesting and showing that they will stand up for what they believe in. Back in the early 80's, my father, then a school-skipping student who loved to check out girls and often discussed movements of change with a group of motivated Tamils was one of the people who started it all. 

My dad ended that discussion with, "I believe in my people and the power of God. I wanted to change the world. I wanted peace. I wanted my people to be safe. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and I wanted it for my people. But look at me now. My whole life all I wanted was peace. And look. DO you see peace? Do you see freedom? NO! Every day people are dieing. Not only in Sri Lanka, but around the world. WHen I was your age, I thought I could make a difference. I thought I could change the world."

"I know I can change the world, Appa", I interrupted.

He smirked, bent down his head, looked at me over his glasses and said, " you can't change the world. I tried and I'm lucky that I am still alive today."

I stood up and said, "I will change the world. I want peace! And I will get it!", furiated I stomped out of his office.

"Ganya!", he called after me. I ignored him. "This isn't a handbag or some shoes. This is a complicated issue", he said. "It's impossible".

I'll show him.

But that conversation got me thinking. One, now I know for a fact that I am indeed the daughter of Gajaram. Two, that I know what I wanted and I know how badly I wanted it. And three, was I being naive?

***

So I turned on my Netflix today and flicked through the movies until I came across, "Peck on the Cheek", and started reading. I saw the cast including Madhavan and Simran and thought the blurb about a 9-year-old adopted girl would be a nice way to spend my evening. The second I hit the play button, the song "Vellai Pookal" started playing and my soul instantly warmed up, my body filled with chills, and my eyes with tears. This was definitely a good sign. With my later posts, you'll understand why this particular song struck a chord with me. The scene started with a bride named Shyama who was preparing for her wedding. The next set of events were heartwrenching, to put it in lighter terms. A very pregnant and heartbroken Shyama is forced to flee to India leaving behind her husband who is fighting in the war. She gives birth to a baby girl in Rameswaram, who quickly wins the hearts of her parents (Madhavan and Simran) and becomes a part of their family. On her 9th birthday, they reveal to her that she was adopted and little Amudha is on a hunt to find out more about her birthmother. This movie is definitely not for the lighthearted and a box of Kleenex nearby is a must! Nevertheless, this movie clearly depicts the realities of war and does a great job of motivating the audience (me) in taking a stand and making a change. At the end of the movie, when Amudha is finally reunited with her mother, she asks her mother to return with her to India. A tearful Shyama replies, "When peace returns to this country".