Reflect

My mind goes back to a blog entry a cyclist friend of mine had written. Despite the occasionally faltering English, the entry is rich in content. Rich, and yet so utterly simple. Reminds me of some of the unstaged entries I am going through trying to vote, which despite minor technical glitches, make the theme so well, it's hard not to nominate them. Here are those couple of lines, which for me, made the article:

"Why did I start cycling? Was it for fitness? Or was I going green? Was I saving money? Or was I trying to be kool? The equanimous Mulsi lake with its rejuvenating breeze gliding my bike along its shore made me recall the true reason. The reason was like the dew on the grass but hidden behind the mist. The breeze from Mulsi cleared the mist. The reason was simple, I cycle just because I love cycling. There's no other reason. And I realized there can't be any other reason."

That is what certainty is. That which can't be bound to rationale. And never be subject to any amount of rationalization. The more reasons there are, more feeble the binding. Excellence, implying in part talent however is not to be confused with this.

I cycle. I strive to be better, to push my limits. My efforts are ample and yet I have no ambitions as a cyclist except to use it as a medium. For resting the mind. Flexing the body. For transport. For adventure. To smell the wind. To reach into places within me I know not how to unravel otherwise. That's the tip of the iceberg. I am not a cyclist. And that is what I realized very acutely last Sunday. Some of the best cyclists in our group aren't either. But does that dissuade me from cycling? Quite the opposite actually.

I had a bit of a revelation as I was reading well into lunch time, taking advantage of the mid-week break. As I waded through the ocean of words, some most obscure, and through uncanny metaphors, I thought how utterly useless they were. And yet I was startled by their beauty. As I have always been. I read on, unable to lift my nose off the words.


P.S. Struggled with shots though. So duplicated this one.