Waiting for the unknown

We are experiencing an extraordinary period in our lives. Being extremely depressed and concerned, I am passing through these quarantine days with one single focus on the well-being of my loved ones and the healing of the world.

Only during very rare times of concentration when I think about the aftermath of this pandemic, I have mixed feelings.

On one side, I am worried about my near future as most of us; on the other, I try to notice the spiritual lessons and environmental benefits this virus carries. I wanted to share some of my thoughts, which I scribbled recently.

If I’d describe my generation and the community by three words, those would be: busy, individual, and consumption-addict.

During these unusual days, I realize that we are being challenged by each one of them, in a well-fictioned way.

We were busy. We were complaining about being busy, but deep inside, we adored our schedules being full of travel, meetings, and plans for months. It even became a standard of personal value and a tool to measure success.

Stop and wait were the most bothersome words in our fast-moving, full-of-schedule lives.

We were obsessed with being useful and got lost in the never-ending cycles of making enough money and proving ourselves that we are valuable.

We assumed that we could control everything and have the power to shape our future. So we were working hard to design it in the best way and in the way we wanted.

We are used to knowing. We always knew what we’d do that week, month, or coming summer. An unknown period or issue was intolerable, defined as a problem to be solved immediately.

The unknown requires trust, and that was a huge challenge for most of us.

Instead of appreciating who we are and what we have at that very moment, we were concentrating on who we could be once we own that missing thing. We habitually crave for that missing thing, don’t we?

‘Now’ was just a time to plan for the next step or future achievements.

That missing thing leads us to consume more, not only talking about the stuff we bought unconsciously but merely the attitude of searching that precious piece to fulfill us.

In a world of multiple choices, we were tired of hunting.

Describing WE; it appears to be a generation of super connectedness and always in crowds; however, looking at the hidden part,it is the age of individualism.

The concept of society and empathy disappeared. The companies, communities, or countries are always being compared by memorized frames, viewed through hierarchy or prejudgments. Perhaps some of us felt proud of where to live and which community to belong to, dissociating the rest.

So here we are sitting in our homes, with no clue on how long this period will last and what’s coming after.

Nobody is greater or luckier than others.

Regardless of our financial situation, gender, religion, the country we live in, and the community we belong to, we all struggle with the same concerns. The world has reached a level of equality.

Eventually, humankind began to understand empathy in a dramatic way.

We are witnessing the destruction of the existing system, and the beginning of a new era.

We stopped; with a better saying, we hit the wall. Sitting at home with our families instead of hopping from one flight or meeting to another, made us confused.

Any tools we learned so far, do not help to define and deal with this period. For the first time, we do not have any action plans, strategies, or answers; and the ones we have are not helping.

We are stuck in this absolute NOW.

The future is foggy, all the efforts and everyday routines of the past have lost its old meaning.

Soon ( i hope ), when these acute days are over, we’ll look at what’s left behind and what we desire for this second chapter, then start building again with lessons learned and new systems designed.

But, for now, everything is uncertain;

we are waiting for the unknown.