FEEDING YOUR DEMONS
Feeding your Demons
Flowers too have to endure the pollution and decay of the world of nature, yet they call forth images of peace and tranquility. It is their nature.
We are also like flowers, we are expected to live in our natural state of peace and spread our fragrance all around.
-Brahma Kumaris
Nishita had a habit of bringing fresh veggies every evening while returning back from her office. This was just another day of the same routine; she purchased some munching snacks and started towards her apartment on foot. All her grocery bags were hanging down her fingers and she was dwindling down the incidents of the day at office. Out of nowhere she felt some sort of animal grabbed one packet of bread from her hand and ran past with speed. She could not see what it was and concluded that it might be some hungry street dog. As she continued to walk towards her home just a little far the same thing happened again and this time it was the biscuits which were taken with the same fast speed. A benevolent and compassionate Nishita giggled thinking about the fun this creatures was trying to have.
Soon she reached near her home and then felt that someone was following her. She took alternate turn to be cautious and her persecutor went away. The evening passed and it was the next morning. While Nishita was returning from her office today she thought of grabbing a few extra eatables and look out for this hungry animal to feed it. She purchased some biscuit packets and asked a few vendors in the market whereabouts of this creature. No one reported knowing such creature. Some people mentioned that they had experienced such food seizing incidents. It might be possible that some animal has reproduced in the nearby area and is in the need for food for its young ones. With no success in locating the being, Nishita started returning to her home when suddenly something snatched a bag of groceries from her hand. She felt excited and thought of taking more things next day so that she can create high changes of getting a look at this mysterious creature. She again sensed being followed till the last turn to her home.
When she went inside the apartment building exhausted and in a hurry she collided with her next door neighbor Sumit. He reported about the strange disappearances of people reported by the local authorities in the nearby area since last week. He also mentioned that all of them have mentioned something related to a strange creature to their family members before they went missing unexpectedly. Nishita felt a shiver of terror went down her spine. She excused herself and locked her main door. She was breathless and panting. Terrified with the updates she received the other day; she refused to let herself move out next morning. When she prepared her morning coffee she decided to sit in the balcony and look around to divert her thoughts. She was able to see a big mansion in front which was decorated for an upcoming wedding function. Large number of guests could be seen engaged in various activities. During this cursory look she froze when she saw a strange looking four legged animal with light brown skin, no fur, strong and sharp claws, long and pointed antelopes. It was about the size of a huge dog and was wandering around the house while sticking near the boundary walls. Suddenly a male came out of the house main entrance and he was grabbed by this animal so swiftly that hardly anyone would have noticed the incident. She contemplated over calling the police but then decided to let the people in the wedding function to make a missing report or search for this man. She was sure that it would make no sense for others if she will try to explain what she just witnessed.
She consistently kept close watch over the house and the creature. It kept on coming back and was taking someone along. Nishita was surprised as no one was realizing the absence of people around them and concluded that this could be due to the exponentially large number of people gathered in this house. In the evening when she was still busy with her scrutiny she saw a young boy was ready to come out of the house for some work and the creature was hiding itself adjacent to the main gate once again. Nishita got frightened but her wits got over and she decided to do something to save this young boy. As she was thinking about her course of action a buzzing noise of her morning alarm woke her up from her dream.
Analysis of the dream:
The animal represents the unnecessary and irrelevant anxiety we bring from the places outside our home such as office, meeting with stubborn relatives, traffic snarls, bills and deadlines, noisy neighbors. We unknowingly start feeding to some of them initially outside and then bring them along to our home where we are supposed to wind down and relax. These anxieties and worries grow and multiply themselves into demonic forms if they are not addressed. Subtle chances in our behavior caused by them are not even noticed and gradually we start getting annoyed, curt and toxic to others. People around us start leaving us but we don’t realize this decline in our social support because we are always focused upon the fictional quantity of network we have in our mind. We are taken aback and start panicking when our most precious ones start leaving us or when we have withdrawn ourselves from them because they were constantly pointing us out about our flaws. We don’t understand the genuine concern they have and thus, create a lonely world for us. This triggers the never ending vicious cycle of mental problems such as depression and existential anxieties.