Be is for Being
B is the second letter of alphabet, and one that instantly reminds one of Beauty and the Beast, a very famous French fairy tale that inspired a hugely successful animated movie by the same name. It is often quoted while referring to two people who are exactly opposite in looks and demeanour.
B also is the first letter of some very powerful words — beauty, balance, brilliance, beneficial, to name a few. Beauty and Balance are two values that I strive to bring in every decision and action that I take. But today I want to talk about a very philosophical word “being”.
Being has two meanings in the dictionary. The first is a reference to all living things or anything that exists. It is the second one that is more profound. It refers to the state or fact of existing.
Quoting from Wikipedia: “In philosophy, being means the material or immaterial existence of a thing. Anything that exists is being. Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies being. Being is a concept encompassing objective and subjective features of reality and existence. Anything that partakes in being is also called a “being”, though often this usage is limited to entities that have subjectivity (as in the expression “human being”). “
In the current situation, when our existence is under threat from an invisible enemy, state of being for all of us is all the more important. Living in isolation or lockdown for an extended period of time has made many of us philosophical about life in general, and what matters to us. There is a definite inclination towards the basics of life, with more and more people talking about turning minimalistic and adopting simpler lifestyles. The human being, who ruled this earth and went about conquering, to the extent of exterminating all other life forms (or beings, if you will) in his quest for materialistic gains, and maniacal thirst for power, is suddenly realizing what it feels like to be under threat from an enemy he has no way to control. (Hopefully we will find a vaccine for Covid-19 soon.)
We are now realizing how shallow some of our pursuits have been. How superficial our lifestyle has been. And how meaningless some of our relationships have been. In the context of the current lockdown, our experiences have made it imperative to redefine the concept of being or to look at minimalistic way of existing.
This the time for all of us to introspect and relook at our priorities, review how we are spending our time, and reconnect with our inner self to identify what our whole being is all about. It is time to reach out and reconnect with our real friends and forgotten mentors, who still have the power to touch our lives, and move away from the synthetic rat race that has gobbled our whole being in recent years.
It is also the right time to define the purpose of your very being (existence), and rediscover what gives us joy, energy and fulfilment, as against what just pays our bills and makes us look good in front of others. It may be worthwhile to share your thoughts in a journal, with a confidant or get yourself a coach to help you make this inward journey and help you define the road ahead.
This is also the time for us to celebrate the importance of being — Being present in the lives of our family members, especially our parents and our children — a state where one exists in the present mindfully and gains fulfilment. It is a time to respect the importance of other people who make our lives richer through their being — our friends, our community, our health workers, our security personnel, our domestic help, our sanitation workers, and so on.
It is also a time to reflect on the being of other beings on this earth, and share the beauty of this earth with them. It is also their habitat, and this includes the birds, the wildlife, the stray dogs, the trees and shrubbery around us, the forests, the butterflies, the insects, the fish and all the flora and fauna created by God.
It is a great reminder to all of us, about the value of being. It would be erroneous on part of human being to miss this great opportunity to exist, to be oneself.
