Totality

Earlier in my journey I was reminded to see the totality and not to focus on the fragments. A fragmented mind is the curtain blocking the light at the end of the tunnel. I applied this principle in my workplace when I had to deal with cascading operational issues.

In this universal pandemic season, I reflected upon the totality of life. We see different behavioral coping mechanisms that people use to deal with the fatigue of too much time spent indoors. The reopening of beaches was life's essential and entitled human right. We see compliance and defiance attitudes toward a simple protective covering - face mask. Inconveniences are excruciating pain and sufferings. 

This totality principle is even more meaningful today. The physical depravity will pass once commercial activities resume to operable state or once a vaccine is found. Technology lets us satisfy our needs and desires through online products acquisition. We defer our physical contact but increase our virtual communication. We appreciate our cooking and treasure our dining out experience.

This pandemic is the fragment that catches our human life. When a beggar or emperor dies, their total is the same. Is it time to look at life in totality? 

Contentment

Soon it will be 10 years since I started this blog. Although updating it consistently has not been my greatest strength, I persisted and did not give it up. The journey during these 10 years has been a concoction of  bittersweet experiences from my Ph. D pursuit to assimilating to academia. These past 10 years have been pivotal comparing to the preceding 13 years. Looking back, I can confidently say that it is the best decade that marked the beginning of learning about my SELF and life.

I did not realize that I was not living until I experience what living means. I left my comfort zone not knowing that I was actually escaping. The context changed but the content was the same. I was the corrosive content that was burning inside. I could be in the Himalayas but would see the mountains as obstruction instead of peace and tranquility. 

The Himalayas within me is calling me to appreciate the sights of the colorful birds and yellow butterflies foraging the foliage along the riverside walking trail. Before, the chirping of the birds was noise because I was unconscious and not accepting their nature.The silver lining of minimal human contact in this "nature always wins" era is I am entering into the sensuous existence to feel the Whole that has always been there.