Even though people are lamenting home-office online everywhere, I know there is a vast number of people who are actually quite happy to stay at home and get things done, without having to socialize with every Tom and Dick in the office in the name of “being acceptable”. For an introvert in lock-down, she no longer has to exert energy into meaningless debates on sports, politics or even office policy, as the company is now finally okay to let her work in a deep state unobstructed, and then focus on her own life, the kids, reading a book or creating all the art that she wanted to make.
However, this makes the extroverts in the office, nervous, they can no longer practice showing off their intelligence in debates, or mindless chatter that sounds smart but proves to be of no use anywhere. They are not getting their “kick” out of using the “mind” – a tool that thrives in connecting ideas and symbols and feeling proud when they show that they are better at identifying patterns than those around. In desperation, they want the old habits back, hence the INCREASED NUMBER OF MEETINGS start. If the office does not agree, the extrovert is busy showing off his mind in every WEBINAR he can possibly attend, every online course he can finish, (LOOK! I have got 101 LinkedIn learning certificates that took me 102 hours to finish and probably only be in use for 99 hours in my lifetime).
We introverts praise and appreciate their dedication and hard work, in using their minds more. While we feel unproductive for not doing IMPORTANT ENOUGH work. An introvert thrives in the world of spirit, rather than mind. Spirit is the world of intuition; neurosciences call it activity in parts of the brain that do not talk to our conscious self all the time. Hence the introvert girl FEELS AT EASE with just watching the sky, petting the cat, or watching an anime, where she would have progressed further in career by STUDYING some INVESTMENT ANALYTICS course. But her heart is not interested in that.
She feels confused, but let me tell you MY DEAR, trust in your heart. Let it guide you. THIS IS NO regular motivational essay meant to get likes. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR LIKES AND SHARES. What I want is to let the truth float out there.
Let me put it into BUSINESS TERMS so that next time you no longer feel guilty just staring at the sky, instead of lecturing people on a webinar.
We always have the mind and the spirit, the two great tools in our hands. The mind thrives in analysis, connections and energizes from it. The spirit thrives in realization, acceptance, finding some deeper truths that reverberates within you. The MIND is like a PEN, while the spirit is like a PAINT BRUSH. You can draw with them both, but there is BEAUTY in the world that only PAINT BRUSH can capture and nothing else. (Edit: also to keep in mind, there are calculations that you CANNOT do with a paintbrush. So do not get any sense of a false hierarchy— that one is better than the other, from my words here)
DON’T BELIEVE ME? Silent your JUDGEMENT for a few minutes. Because you KNOW it is true, you ALWAYS have known it all along. You know that through every motor-skill you acquired that needed you to do complex mental calculations. You simply CANNOT DRIVE IN DHAKA TRAFFIC by using your mind. You are really relaxed even in the narrow corners in Dhaka are you not? Because you have left the driving to the SPIRIT. And it can do calculations much faster and take decisions much easier than your MIND ever will. When you wanted to bowl like LANCE KLUSENER or WASIM AKRAM as a child, did you go and STUDY physics, air molecules, muscle structures, and suddenly end up like them? RIDICULOUS is it not? You just went through the motions, AGAIN AND AGAIN, and one day, you were the master bowler on your rooftop.
That is the reality of childhood, and that is the reality of LIFE. Let go of your mind when you need to. Enjoy your spirit guiding you here. Explore the possibilities that seem to call you, but you DENY yourself OF THE JOY by thinking, this is not ALIGNED WITH MY CAREER GOALS. Well yes, but it does align with your life’s purpose, MY DEAR, I promise you.
Suspend your disbelieve in this lock-down please, MAYBE THIS IS THE ONLY CHANCE you will ever get to stay out of the RAT RACE OF MINDS, and let your SPIRIT open up a million more dimensions for you. LET your spirit guide you, and let your actions come through you, instead of forcing them to happen.
It only took me 10 minutes to write this. Had I depended on my CONSCIOUS MIND to do it; it would have taken a month. Believe me I know. I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING for 10 years with JUST 100 posts to show for it. MOST of it, being dictated by my mind, which is why it DRAINED ME, one writing a MONTH, and no more.
NOW IN THE PAST WEEK, I have WRITTEN more than I CAN POST, JOTTED DOWN MORE IDEAS than I have THOUGHT, and THOUGHT of more ideas than the millions that FLOW THROUGH ME. And I am not bothered by not being able to show it all off to you. IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO SEE, but for me to FEEL. And I am putting this out here, for some of you to question me, some of you to judge me and ridicule me, and for ONLY A FEW, to TAKE INSPIRATION from. I am at PEACE with that.
Note: But I DO let my MIND work on the SPELL CHECK, at the END of writing everyday.
I HAVE DONE MY PART. I AM AT PEACE.
Where are YOU? When will you stop blaming yourself for laziness and instead admit that you were meant for just DIFFERENT THINGS? You do not have to be better than EXTROVERTS, those in the mind race. I am not saying we INTROVERTS are BETTER. We are just different. And we are not RUNNING THE SAME RACE. Have peace with it and LIFE WILL FOLLOW.
Edit: A VERY important remark from Iftekhar Alam Himel bhai, which took ME a few days to really absorb, so adding it here now, after going through a phase of what he calls ‘selfish narcissist’, I hope my phase ends today. Here it goes, “There is nothing inherently wrong in becoming introvert or extrovert. What's wrong is in the extreme where it becomes your only motivation for being. Too much Self reflection can turn one into a selfish narcissist, the same way a person constantly looking for social approval looks like a desperate narcissist. Flaw is in the extremes and not in any particular personality type.”
STAY BLESSED.
KEEP CREATING.
CAUSE WHAT YOU’VE GOT IS GOLD.
RADI SHAFIQ
22 AUGUST 2020
DHAKA
#love #keepcreating #spirit #deepwork
Recommended song: Own City: Gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE3H58CtGbQ
Recommended book: Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman (neuroscientist) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9827912-incognito
P.S. Did you feel some peace of MIND after finishing this? If so, can you think of a Friend of yours who would be helped by reading it, GO AHEAD and INBOX them this article. It is the personal touch that counts. Not the shares and likes to APPEAR spiritual.