It was a beautiful week, filled with deep and often touching conversations. It’s funny how choosing a value for the week becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. From Apr 29th to May 2nd, I participated in the Ultraworking work marathon. One of the hosts asked us to share articles or blog posts that have influenced us to work better and I shared Steve’s Do It Now article. Following that, one person shared how Steve’s work influenced him through his twenties and thirties. All that he described reminded me of how I’d been influenced by Steve’s blog in my early twenties too, so I asked the person if he would like to chat sometime. He agreed and I ended up having a lovely 1-1 conversation with him. It felt surreal to me that I could talk about deeply personal matters and connect so intimately with a stranger. At one point, my eyes filled with tears as he described his relationship with his father as it reminded me of my own struggles with my dad. His experiences and struggles with his sexuality and romantic relationships made me feel deep empathy for him.
I had 11 calls with various people throughout the week and each one of them made me feel a sense of connection. None were shallow. Some of them were with friends in India and the common pandemic situation we are going through made us feel empathy for each other. Pain brings people together in strange ways. I also had many text-based chats with people in CGC and outside which were intimate and heart-centered. At the end of the week, I felt understood, supported, and like everyone was my peer in one way or another. It opened my heart and made me feel like I was part of a larger, benevolent collective.
Value for week #19: Harmony
This week, I’ve been focusing on harmony. I chose this because I was feeling like my thoughts, feelings, and actions were a bit out of sync. For example, I was feeling despondent given the pandemic situation in Bangalore but my thoughts and actions weren’t matching up. Several parts of my daily life also felt out of sync such as how I was relating to my work and CGC. I wanted to feel more harmony from within, like all parts of my life and my emotions were jiving.
I decided to not have any specific daily actions to practice this value. Instead, I’d let what I needed to do naturally come up and follow through.