Are we ready now to work together to make the world a better place?
Besides the death and destruction in its wake, the pandemic has also taught us a lot. There are innumerable messages going around telling us this. Live better. Eat better. Think better. Think more. Take time for yourself. Reach out to the people you love. Wealth creation is not everything. Money is only a means to live, it is not an end in itself. Things we all know and yet don’t allow ourselves to act on. The daily grind takes over and takes precedence over what really matters. Humanity is this one giant lost soul. Are we even permitted to find ourselves?
I have been at home now since the twenty first of March. Just over six weeks. Honestly, I have loved my time at home, forced or not. Like a fish takes to water. I don’t miss going out. I don’t miss the restaurants, or the cinemas, or the theatre, or the watering holes, or the drives, or the travel. I have been most relaxed and happy at home. So much so that at some level I don’t want this lockdown to end. I do miss meeting the people that matter to me though. My family. My friends. So, I make the effort to call them. Voice or video. Whatever is possible.
I have discovered that life is good this way. The desire to write came back to me whilst at home. Setting aside my fears, I took up the challenge to write one article a day for thirty days. Frankly, this time the fear about my writing skills was so small that it was easy to set aside. It did not matter if I did not write brilliantly. It was simply about letting go. Whilst that is largely true I do tend to worry about my writing style and abilities. I wonder if people I know are simply being polite. It is heartening when I get positive feedback from people I don’t know. This is a big motivator for someone like me, as I am just embarking on this journey. It encourages me to stick to the journey.
As I continued to write I also realised that it was helping me focus my thinking as well. I was clearly articulating to myself what was important to me. In a way, I was and am talking to myself as I write.
When I last took stock, I had written much more than my set target. The articles went up on Medium every day as I finished them. At first I did not even tell many people that I am writing and publishing. Only once there was some kind of a collection, did I start sharing with a select few people known to me.
Over these weeks I also worked with a colleague and we created a publication on Medium — ROADFOLK. It was exciting to see this take shape. It felt like we were doing something meaningful. The motley collection of articles from us and a few other writers started to look like a sensible body of work.
How was all this possible for me? During these days of no work there was mind space available. There was no pressure to run every day to work. Then to fit in social commitments after that. Suddenly there was time for me. Time to think. Time to be. Time to pause. Time to look at life ahead. Time to be creative. Time to reflect. Time to grow.
Imagine how this will impact society at large. Everybody got this time to reflect and grow. Will this give humanity to re-think its journey? Will it bring the required focus on intentional living? I also hear that people are healthier now. They are not falling sick as often as before. This takes the pressure off the health care system. The cynic would say that it also hurts their revenue streams. That is good I would say. Isn’t human health and wellness the priority?
Then there are the multitude of benefits for the planet. This in my opinion is massive in itself. The drastically reduced consumption means huge savings in the Earth’s resources. Cleaner air. Clearer skies. The birds are out. The flora is getting a chance to grow unhindered. Time for the earth to heal. Time for humanity to heal as well.
Another major learning, at least for me and I believe for many others, has been to consume local and to support local enterprise. If we continue to dwell and build on this thought, it will in any case overall reduce humanity’s carbon footprint. Why do we need to move goods across the world, when we can produce and consume locally. This is how traditionally it was done. And this is what meant that each part of the world had its own character. The world was not some homogenised global market place. Personally I hate seeing the same brands wherever I go. This is one aspect that has damaged the joys of travel for me.
It got me thinking. Isn’t this something that we need every year? We don’t need a pandemic to give us this relief. Why can we not have a month long lockdown every year? With many differences of course. No shelter in place orders for the people. But all traffic off road. All airlines to be grounded. All businesses to function with skeleton teams only. Including medical facilities. Remember this makes people healthier overall. Work from home for people where practical. Public transport only for essentials. People allowed to travel on foot or cycles. All retail businesses to be shut except for food, medicines and other essentials. Governments also to function only with skeleton teams. Critical maintenance works could also be easily done with almost no traffic on the roads.
One big world-wide holiday for all, except that only local movement will be possible. Much better planned and has to be synchronised across the world. It has to be the same month for the entire world. Of course a lot of thought will be needed to create the detailed model for this. Sounds crazy. But think about it. Wouldn’t it be great for the planet and for all of us. And it will truly establish the work-life balance. Couples can get time to connect. Families can bond. Conversations will be easier and deeper with the pressure of work lifted.
I know I would love to get time like this every year to grow and discover a new me.
It is a simple and in its own way path-breaking idea. Would you like to support such an idea? Please do leave your thoughts on this.
Written By Mohit Gupta
Week 19, May ’20
