“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." -French philosopher Blaise Pascal, circa
1600s.
The Covid 19 pandemic presents each of us the rare opportunity to find out who
we are and who we want to ‘become.’ To sit quietly by ourselves, and not be
anxious about the silence. This is difficult. The human animal is a social
being, and not comfortable being alone. Thus, ‘social distancing’ is not only
an experience we’ve never had, it is contrary to our very nature.[i] The
life you were living, the ‘person’ you were in the process of ‘becoming,’ has
been put on hold.
So now you have been granted ‘time’ to
reflect on who that ‘person’ was. In other words, at any point in time we are
‘becoming’ someone. A friend, a lawyer, a parent, a sibling, etc. But have you
ever had sufficient time to reflect on what that means? Now you can, and should,
but probably won’t. Instead you are probably ‘anxious’ to get back to where you
were, who you were ‘becoming.’ (‘Just get me back home’ as Dorothy pleaded in
the Wizard of Oz).
That ‘anxiety’ is your ego not knowing what to
do because it is no longer ‘in control.’ It has difficulty not being in charge,
not being ‘seen’. Not being affirmed by your social and professional
surroundings. Those ‘surroundings’ have temporarily been left ‘open.’ You have
some unexpected freedom from your psychological boss, the ‘ego.’ Will you take
advantage of it?
Looked at in this way, you have been given a great gift. Accept it and you can
reflect on the ‘person’ you were ‘becoming’, and more importantly on the
‘being-to-come.’ Who was that future person ‘coming-into-being’? Do you know? Do you want to know? Well, now is your
opportunity. You are no longer ‘surrounded’ by the milieu that tends to mold
you.
In the end all we have in this brief life is our time, how we decide to ‘spend’
it, and those decisions define the ‘being-to-come’. We are not a static ‘beings’,
rather we are always consciously (mindfully) or unconsciously (mindlessly)
in the process of ‘becoming.’ And the process of ‘becoming’ is a lifelong
project that only ends with our death.
We are all potentially ‘works of art’ that
are never finished. Yes, works of art. No two alike. All potentially beautiful,
inspirational, exemplary of what it means to live a meaningful life. But that
will not happen by accident.
Your gift? Some ‘time’ to sit ‘quietly in a room alone’ and reflect. Reflect on
your life. Reflect on who you were ‘becoming’ and on your
‘being-to-come’.
Savor
it.
[i]
The ‘availability heuristic’ is a behavioral trait that makes it difficult for
humans to expect and deal with rare events that haven’t occurred in our
lifetime or are without precedent.
Painting, Eleven, A.M., Edward Hopper, 1926.
Beautiful, thank you. Susan
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