Thursday 24 May 2018

Entering the bubble

PC: Google Images (RighterTrack)
Bubbles- we all created them when young, with soap- multicoloured, floating, bouncy, they looked fascinating! Aren’t we all living in bubbles within our own lives, thoughts? We all are in some bubble or the other separated by space and time. And we enter and exit different bubbles in a single day; some significant ones in life when our life undergoes some significant transition. This could be relocation, marriage, or a major shift. Take a day-to-day example. You get up in the morning and especially if it’s a Monday, you have to drag yourself out! You don’t feel like leaving your house (your bubble). Transitions are the most challenging- leaving one bubble and entering the other. You come to office and settle in your desk, which is a bubble in itself and as time passes, you get comfortable in it.
We all live in a variety of bubbles- routine bubble (doing routine tasks), then the most interesting- the imaginative/ creative bubble (where you dream, think of things you like, plan your vacation etc.), the casual bubble- chatting, discussing with peers (social bubbles), watching a movie, entertainment and enjoying’. (Some bubbles you don’t need an effort to move into :D) ‘The lonely bubble’- you are by yourself, thinking all kinds of stuff that others cannot hear, secretive, you don’t want to be disturbed until you transcend to another bubble. Then, there is this scariest one- ‘the ignorance bubble’- you need to get out of it! You are definitely affected by the bubble you are into- like if things are positive around, you take life in good light, while in a negative bubble, things are upsetting!
It is life’s funda- keep moving or it will become stagnant- the more bubbles you explore- the more enriching your life is. Once you’re used to it and get a knack of it, you no longer want to cling to your ‘comfort zone bubble’.
Isn’t it wonderful how we transcend from one state to another, without even knowing it consciously and living through it day in and day out- enriching lives, tracing journeys, moving on in life.
Having said that, I feel there are so many bubbles we haven’t gotten into and are thus deprived of its experience. The point I am trying to make is we need to explore the other bubbles (many times we think of trying out new things, but are stopped by our apprehensions) that we don’t know- you never know what you could discover.
The idea struck, when I read about James Grant who writes under pseudonym Lee Child. He had almost hit the bottom when 40 and lost his job in Granada Studios. He chose a challenging path but rather a satisfying one for him- of writing. So far, he has published 22 thriller books, with 23rd in the finishing process. All this when he had zero experience in writing, but created his own world, his creative bubble!
In my recent interview with Shatrujeet Nath, author of bestselling mytho-fantasy, The Vikramaditya series, he said, you will never know if you are good at a particular thing, unless you try. To elaborate on it, to excel, you first need to get exposed, i.e. “enter the bubble!”
Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible unless it’s done.” Have you thought about it? There have been instances in your life- when taking up a new degree, a job, a challenging target or deal…you had apprehensions, you thought it to be impossible, difficult; but then you had no choice but to try and work on it and you succeeded! Nervousness is a part of doing new things, but what’s the fun without challenges! ‘Darr ke age solution hai!’ Just get into that environment. Yes, and of course, you have to groom yourself and encompass the skills required to get the task right! But it’s always about the first step- about entering into the bubble!
So, if you’ve been pondering over something, longing to learn a new skill, art or language- try your hand at something new, travel to a new place and explore, find your calling, enter the bubble to experience a new world in itself, to enhance your being!