I

I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known.
I don’t regret this life I chose for me.
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
I’m so happy because today I’ve found my friends, they’re in my head.
I want it and I want it right now.
I will do as I please.
I want to be heard.
I want it that way.
I am.

By now, you would have noticed the common thread running through all these sentences. It is the letter ‘I’ which is used to denote/symbolize/highlight the self.

Although we’re discussing only a single letter but history is testimony to the fact that a lot of the events have occurred as a result of I, the self. Many kingdoms have risen and simultaneously fallen as a result of this ‘I’. Many inventions and discoveries made. Many battles fought as result of it. It is a very powerful symbol which mainly denotes the level of ego in a person, the level which could then be used for the betterment or degradation of humanity and self.

I denotes passion, anger, power, authority, control, opinions, thoughts and other emotions. However, ‘I’ doesn’t always denote negativity but also blooms in the gardens of positiveness.

Every human being speaks about themselves when they use I. However, there is a minimum threshold limit beyond which, once crossed, the person’s ego starts to take control. Then, things start taking the stubborn route, the immovable and the unstoppable. Once on this route, the mind can start behaving quite strangely.
However, at this juncture, focus your attention to the letter ‘I’ itself, the structure and geometry of the letter and apply some thought as to why it has been made so. Have a look at the I which is present at the start of the post. Basically, there are 3 (three) lines which make up the letter ‘I’.
Two lines at the top and bottom and one central line in the center.
Now, the central line can be assumed to be the thinking/rationale/logic of the person. This is how a person thinks about the environment in which he/she is thriving in. This is the decision making line of the person and defines how a person’s mind works but this is where the catch lies.
A person’s thinking can never be completely objective in nature. It is almost like an ideal case scenario. There is always the presence of some extra stuff, in the form of emotions, feelings, the intangibles basically. This is where we hit the barriers to our thinking capability which is in the form of the two lines present at the top and the bottom. Here is where we come face-to-face with the concept of ‘Bounded Rationality‘. Simply put, the central line of thinking capacity is always flanked by these barriers at both the ends.
The gap between the two lines at top and bottom can be different for different individuals as shown in the figure.
To remove these barriers to thinking, we can have 3 (three) possibilities and they are shown in the 3 figures below:

* In the first image, we see that the barriers have been removed completely. However, we are then talking of a completely ideal case which is not actually present in reality. Our thoughts are usually crowded by such barriers during thinking. Through meditation and restraint of worldly emotions if we somehow conquer these barriers, then our mind reaches the zenith of its thinking capacity.
This is true in the case of only removing either the top or bottom barrier.

* In the second image, the line of thought itself is changed. One line of thought breaks up into 4 (four) lines to symbolize the change in perspective in order to negotiate the barriers. It is almost similar to first image but requires a complete change of thought in such a manner that there is no barrier encountered after this change. This is also quite a difficult scenario to achieve but can be done.

* In the third image, the barriers are very much there but the person learns to widen the gap between the top and bottom line. This way, whenever the person encounters such a barrier, he/she is able to use logic to delay the barrier to a later stage. This process keeps continuing and as a result the gap keeps increasing indicating that the person has been able to successfully synchronize his/her thinking with the barriers. To the extent that these barriers become merely milestones in their lives

The important part is to embrace the power of ‘I’ and acknowledge the barriers which it presents. Because the ‘I’ which can destroy a city half-way across the world is the same as the one which can create a nursery with children happily playing in them, its all about perspective.

On a parting note, ‘I’ leave you with the words of another great ‘I’, Abraham Lincoln:

“Am I not destroying my enemies, when I make friends of them.”

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20 thoughts on “I”

  1. Certainly. Very well Said. While a person prison him/her self in cell of "l" , they lends them selves conclusion of regret only. I is buddy but only l is immoral / dodgy.

    Reply
  2. I am mesmerized by your height Imagination. No doubt 'I' is the single most important factor in anyone's life.We all want to be recognized .(I want to be the best.I want to be a leader, i command respect).But your ingenuous post with all the geometry and other intricacies was simply awesome..
    really awesssssssssoooome 🙂

    Reply
  3. Thank you very much Saikat, those are really motivating words.
    I'm glad that I could articulate my thoughts in a manner in which you were able to connect with the logic of the post.
    Keep visiting Saikat 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Reply
  4. Thank you and welcome to my Blog Rajni. 🙂 🙂 🙂
    Yes, 'I' does have lot going on in itself. So, which of the three cases discussed above do you think is going on for you?

    Reply
  5. It's important to note here that it is the unwavering belief in their philosophy, thinking and abilities that the greatest of people were able to achieve what they did. It was their ego, their supreme confidence in "I" that got them to where they were, be it Gandhi, Galileo, or Hitler.

    In their minds, there were no barriers, no doubts. Their chosen path was the only one, although such stubbornness married with the wrong ideology could lead to disastrous consequences as we know in atleast one of the cases.

    Reply
  6. Yes, very true…but that holds in almost all the cases. if you want to get something done, if you want to prove a point, you've got to have that unshakable belief by your side. Thanks bro.
    Among the 3 possibilities spoken about in the post, which one appealed to you most?

    Reply

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