When the lock-down started, the rained webinars, like cats and dogs. Everyone was on it. Sometimes the presenter was also a participant and vice-versa. While there is so much happening, there is good quality and less quality content, to each one his own. There is judgment, comparison, jealousy and counters, who is famous and not. This is a different kind of madness. While I would like to step out of the madness. I want to focus on some perspectives on what is making this happen.
Individuals have different ways to work through a crisis, disruption and trauma and let’s give it a break, we all are unique starting right from a physical thumb print.
In the current times, there are different ways of coping. The need for social connect is the highest, sometimes in the form of someone to share our story with, sometimes to help others, sometimes to guide, sometimes just be by ourselves and more.
The split in many voices, is, in these times, one needs to be. So, let me define the some basics:
Being refers to the state of existing. “To be, or not to be” — that is the question when you’re talking about being. Things that exist are in a state of being; it has to do with the way things are alive and real.
Doing refers to the activities in which a particular person engages
Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with physical or mental reality
– references vocabulary.com, en.wikipedia.org
When a person exists the being and doing interact. This being and doing is a part of ones existence. It is not an either or, it is and.
Beneath all of this, I see this also a way of individuals finding their own meaning in these times. Each one continuing to do what they did in the normal times, this time differently. Earlier it was not known, now social media is like the morning newspaper, making it all clearly visible for all to watch and give views (i call it vishesh tippini in hindi)
Amongst all this chaos, who better to refer to than my favorite lens on meaning. I re-looked Victor Frankl, what did he do when he was struggling with his survival in the Nazi Camp. In his book Man’s search for meaning, he shares the most horrendous circumstances, yet he states, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” He further shares those who found meaning even in the most horrendous circumstances were far more resilient to suffering than those who did not.
Today, a person who stays in a join family has space constraints and having silence during calls, is luck. The luxury of well-being is not a choice to many of these. A person staying away from family, has no connect and hence is attending online sessions to interact with others, being busy to shove off loneliness and more.
So, what the doing is showing up as, is taking up practices that like cooking, cleaning, writing, offering sessions, showcasing skills and more. The being gets focused on by conversations that nourish a person, appreciating the privileges, reflections, awareness and acknowledgement of ones feelings and needs, prayers (to name a few). These experiences nurture the being, it moves ahead with newness, it prepares itself for these times and the new normal. Businesses are saving themselves from drowning, many employees are still getting their salaries, families still get their meals, relations are getting depth and the person is becoming a better version of herself/himself.
Being still and doing nothing are two different things
I would like to step in a space to appreciate this shift in mindset and working towards that, so many individuals have made this possible. This is the time for survival, coming out as adaptable human beings is not a choice anymore. Let’s face this reality.
In adversity the shift in time is a choice and to sit like a potatoe watching others is also another one. 😊
