Flashpoint

When you die, the rest of the world won't go on merrily without you. It can't. It's too late. You existed and therefore it's going to go on changed in some way because of your presence, because you existed.

Who are you to have an opinion? Who are you to make yourself heard? Who are you to make bold claims or have big aspirations? Who are you decide what's right and what's wrong and what should be done about it? Who are you to decide?

Actually, who are you not to?

You exist, not did exist or will exist, but do exist, here, now, in this active moment of time, in this dynamic slice of spacetime, at this point where the pen makes contact with the paper of history, perched at the precipice of everything.

If not you, who? If not now, when? If not here, where? This is your flashpoint.

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  1. Hi love, I had an intense flashpoint experience a few days ago that I would like to share with you here. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to find someone who can understand me at the level from where I’m coming from.
    I was running my team of horses into the woods to pick up firewood for my stepdad with a two wheeled cart and trailer hitched to the cart. I stopped the horses at a pile of wood my stepdad had cut and split and I filled up the trailer. But before I could get back into the cart, the horses started running. I ran to the cart and threw myself onto the floor as the horses galloped across a field. I tried to grab hold of the reins to stop them from running but I was being bounced around so badly that I couldn’t even stand up to get hold of them. Then as I felt myself being being thrown from the cart, everything slowed down and came to a complete stop. I got up from the floor of the cart to see the horses had turned into the woods and were caught up in the trees. I wasn’t hurt and the horses were alright as well.
    I became aware of the fact that my life, as I knew it, was taken out of my control and in that split second was given back to me by God. I had eaten all my negative karma and was able to continue to be who I am. I was also aware that every person who I relate to in this world was also changed by this experience.

  2. I’ve been read a lot of journal you’ve published, Mr. Dev. And You’ve been written a lot of great journal, every single one of it. I really excited for reading every journal you wrote.. And I’m so,.. thank you, for writing those. Maybe You think, and everyone think, that I was so act-over or something. But, for honest, I got something new by reading your journal. Something that need a second reading, or even ‘many-times reading’. So the means of the articles, can be understand in a right position (not in the right direction, it’s philosophically can’t be understand, sorry.)
    I hope one day we can meet, and share something like on your journal. If you don’t mind, just visit back my blog. And read everything inside. So you can find something, that you probably don’t know yet. But, my blog primary language is Indonesia. You maybe need any dictionaries, or something. Thank you, Mr. Dev.

  3. I was trying looking for inspiration on your website while building mine, I told myself that I just needed something simple, elegant and straight to the point. But then, I only read a couple of your articles and not this one.

    Shortly after I was done building the website, I was trying to reach out to you and ask you about the webmention and further reading under this post, that was when I really read this article.

    Funny enough, I said the same thing too on my website, and the way I paraphrase mine was, if I do not tell my story, who would do that for me? I found myself saying – No one.

    Recently, I found out that irrespective of how stupid one may sound, some people still want to learn from you. Like this way, I found myself in the USA last fall for my masters program and this is a place I have no one to call family.

    So my friends invited me over Thanksgiving and Christmas to their families and somehow, everyone wanted to hear from me – and I keep on sharing stories about me whom no one really cares about.

    Then, I realised I have a voice too as my friend brother said “you left your country to come here for schooling despite not having anyone here, you left everything behind and take the challenge of kicking yourself by your butt, you feel a sense of purpose and you chase it, I have never feel like that before as I have never really think I matter”

    Those words hit me, and I found myself eventually setting up my website after I am done with my christmas break with them. And I end up telling myself, even if no one will read these words on mine, I will keep writing, keep creating and keep voicing.

    Thanks for this post and also for your theme, I found myself loving its simplicity and eventually settle down for it.

    By the way, I will like to know how you achieve web mention and further reading below your post, I want to put such on my website too.

    • Hi Tunde,

      Thanks for sharing a bit of your story here. We all have stories and experience and thoughts and knowledge within us that others may benefit from, but for which we often don’t recognize as having any value.

      The internet is a remarkable place in that if we share what we love, others have the opportunity to discover something new to them that could be exactly what they need. And unlike a live broadcast, a post or comment on the Internet can be discovered and replayed across time, which means someone a hundred years from now could be reading this comment and finding some value in it.

      It’s really an incredible time to be alive!

      I see that your site doesn’t load anymore, but if you still need help with webmentions, feel free to send me a message.

      • Thanks for this comment Raam, I have totally forgotten about writing a piece on your website, and yes, the old website is no more as I created another one which acts as a place I write about things that interest me while I think about how to put some stories on it as well.

        You can access it here; https://www.whynotbro.com/

        I have used different themes, but most times, I end up coming back to Independent Publisher, and recently, I notice you’re now working for Automattic and also that it’s been a long time that IP has a major update. Are you planning to update the theme any time soon?

        If no, is there a way to support it?

  4. I needed to read this again. Here, with fingers frozen on the publish button, who indeed am I to keep putting my words out there? I’ve missed your writings Raam, your beautiful words and wise insights. I hope all is well with you there.
    Jean 🙂

    • Thank you for the kind words, Jean. It’s a bit ironic that what followed this very post was my longest hiatus in publishing on this site since I started in 2001! 😀

  5. Cogito, ergo sum.
    Even the Romans found writing hard, so they simply thought 😉

    Great inspirational words. Hope you rejuvenate and Write more!

    • Thank you, Avi! Yes, it’s a bit ironic that what followed this post was my longest hiatus in publishing on this site since I started in 2001! I’m working towards starting up again. 😀