Workplace and the curious case of disappearing Stillness…
I have a case to present. Are you reading this article or just planning to skim through? Are you reading this article at home or at office? How sure are you that for the next 3–5 mins that this article plans to snatch from you, that you would not check your mobile even once. I surely did. In the process of shaping the 57 words that came just before this line, I checked my phone thrice.We live in a heavily distracted environment. I cannot remember the last time I sat straight through a work[or atleast a major portion of it..] end to end without getting distracted.
At work, I am constantly running. Not physically but from one task to another. Thoughts running in my head constantly competing with each other for space and priority. Every task presents itself as urgent, important and high priority. If everything is important then in reality nothing is. At work we are required to manage multiple stakeholders, parallel projects and parallel deadlines. The joy of performing the task is thrown out of the window.
Yes I am no artist but an artist with a deadline surely is not an artist. The process of painting offers the artist an opportunity to deeply connect with his deeper self, where lies an idea timidly waiting in a corner to be discovered and explored. The painter then pampers the idea with love, attention and freedom. The idea now well fed and taken care of, no longer shy and timed is ready to explore new territories. Grateful for the love shown by the artist, it consumes the artist’s mind and heart in return. The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness and the usefulness of a canvas is in its blankness.The idea transforms the artist not the other way round thanks to a blank canvas.
We are offered a limited amount of time daily at work and just like a blank canvas, I want the opportunity to work on a work transform me. Let the idea of a particular task consume me deeply and allow it to transform me. In the rush to get things done, we do not allow the tasks to transform us let alone touch us once in a while. Yes we are not artists, but when you want the product to be a work of art, should we not work like artists.
Stillness offers us a moment with ourselves. It offers us an undiluted connect, which silences the noise in our head and enables us to listen to the voices within more clearly. The voices more often than not, offer a clear direction. Imagine you are in a railway station and are about to board your train to your desired destination. You are just in time and are about to board the train. However when you reach the station you see multiple trains entering and leaving the station. You do not know which one is yours and for a moment you are lost.
Some of us are filled with a sense of panic and quickly pose questions to fellow passengers or coolie’s if they know which platform the train is in. You get multiple conflicting responses which further heightens your anxiety and run searching for a TT for reliable guidance. If you are lucky you find one and get a response from a busy TT who is already hounded by many others. You trust his advice rush and board the train only to find it is the wrong train. You get down and for once choose to pause for a “Moment” and get back to your senses. You take the ticket out of your pocket carefully remind yourself of the train number and for once you pay attention to the public announcement system. If you know where I am headed you hear the voice that has answers to your questions. You finally take the voice seriously and board the right train from the right platform with the right ticket.
At work, we board the wrong trains, ask the wrong people for advice, misunderstand the correct advice and all this happens to us because not for a second do we have time to stop and reflect where you are headed. In most situations the stillness has something relevant and rich to offer. It all started around 3 years back when an unfortunate news was being shared on the public announcement system at our office and we were asked to pay our respects by observing a minute’s silence. I was at that exact moment running around trying to fix a situation that seemed urgent, important and very very real. I was forced to stop for a minute and I remember the event very very clearly. For a moment I silenced all thoughts in my head to offer my respect and focussed on my breath. In a moment the announcement brought us back to reality but I was different. I felt noticeably calmer within. I felt so much more clearer than a minute back. I could see things as they were and I was able to resolve the issue beautifully. I felt different within.
I am known to be impulsive and I have had my moments at work which in the hindsight could have been handled with more grace and beauty. Each moment I can think of lacks one single entity — Stillness. I have tried to enforce Stillness more consciously at work. I try to pause and pause more often and I see tasks getting cleared off my to do list faster than I imagined. Stillness has a lot to offer. It is currently waiting in one corner deep within you waiting for your love, care and freedom. I hope you offer it some genuine love and see how it grows on you and fills your heart and consumes your daily tasks. You start enjoying the most mundane tasks and the most challenging tasks end up transforming you into a better person altogether.
If you have enjoyed reading this article, I hope you will appreciate the beauty of stillness and focus. I have spent the last 951 words focussed on this task and this task alone. I have not touched my phone or taken a break but I neither feel stressed or tired. I cannot express the feeling but I invite you to invite stillness into your life and work more often and with this I rest my case.
