What’s The Rush?

At first, I fell silly when this topic came to my mind but then I thought, ‘why not, let me write about it’.

So, what’s the rush?

Going by the standard protocols of today’s times, this question is less amusing and more foolish. Just look around. Everybody is in a rush, everything is in a rush. Even the monsoon and winter seasons are pre arriving now every year. I wonder if that rush is as logical as that of humans?

As the millennium banged at our doors, we switched to the rushed mode. Rush to finish education and in India, we are rushed to do post graduation immediately after bachelors without taking a break. Rush to get a job, rush to climb up the corporate ladders, rush to buy a house, rush to get married followed by a rush to have children and then the rush to condition our kids on how to be always on a rushed mode.

The technology industry is in a different kind of rush with gadgets becoming obsolete before a season changes to the next.

In the spiritual sphere too, we are engulfed in a certain type of rush. The rush to attain calm quickly, the rush to acquire more knowledge and even more rush to put that knowledge into practice and then move on to another set of learning and so on.

What precipitates this rush?

Through my observation and experience I feel that this rush comes from the inadequacy or at times, from the total absence of ‘I am Enough’ factor. The anxiety and fear of unknown coupled with peer pressure and self criticism often drive us towards a mechanical form of existence on this planet. What if I don’t get admission in a prestigious college? Everyone is doing a CPA. I need to be in the race. I will do anything to get my child admitted into the top school. The rush that comes along with the choice of being in the creative and arts industry, politics and education industry is difficult to fathom and often results in extreme self-crushing.

We are in an era where food is delivered at the doorstep and every nook and corner of our homes is digitalized yet we are rushed to achieve more of everything. I wonder, does a construction site worker even know what is the feeling of depression while we, the more educated and privileged ones get anxious at the drop of a hat? Our bank balances never feel enough to offer us the comfort cushion so we are always in the rush to secure ourselves with fixed deposits, funds and gold and stocks and…… and….

The urban millennia Rush Mode pricks my brain with these questions:

Does the rush have any connection with coming out of the survival mode in life? If someone has crossed the first few levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs then they automatically adorn the rush rules? Is a FOMO bound to occur when someone chooses or gets out of the rush mode?

I am still looking for my answers but closing this piece for now as I am heading to my sunlit balcony inviting me to come over with a cup of tea and a book to enjoy the unrushed mode of life.

Namaste,

Varuna