There is always so much noise about identifying and following your passion or your “calling in life”. But how do you define this “calling”. Is it an activity where people appreciate you the most, where you have the opportunity to build the most fame or fortune or is it where you add most value to society. Or is it an overlap of all these factors. Your Ikigai. If we are honest with ourselves, we will find that for most of us what we define as “calling” is essentially what unique skillsets do I have and how do I maximize its value. Maximizing value is usually defined in terms of revenue, followers, likes etc. You haven’t really answered your calling if it doesn’t generate some kind of recognition. The entire concept has become “outside” facing since it depends on the verdict of the society. Therefore, most of us end up searching for our calling outside ourselves rather than within. And therefore end up not finding it!
Instead, I believe that a calling is completely internal facing. What if you are the only individual on earth. No neighbors, no friends, no social media, no money nothing. Your basic needs are taken care. Enough food and shelter. Now what is it you would spend your time doing. What is it that you will keep working on and keep learning irrespective of how much time it takes you. And you are willing to do it day after day. You love it so much that you don’t care for anything else except the activity. That is your “calling”. It is hard for most of us to understand this as we are constantly in the presence of external pressure at home, at work and in a larger environment. For most of us only time we are alone is while we sleep. There is no time to go within and seek answers separating oneself from everything else. It is hard work and frankly very confusing in the beginning until you start sitting with yourself regularly. The fog starts to settle and you start to get clarity. This is why meditation is so powerful. It allows us to go within and see what is happening in our mind and body.
Question is, is it important enough to go through this effort of separating self and doing an introspection. Why go through the trouble if you are already on your way to become a CEO or are a successful entrepreneur or have decent success in a corporate career with a good family life. Then why go through the pain.
In my opinion you need to do the self-work if you feel a hollowness within yourself inspite of all the success you achieve in professional and/or personal lives. If there is a longing within you that instead of spending your time climbing the corporate ladder or making people around you happy you could be doing something which leads to deep satisfaction irrespective of whether someone is watching or not, then there is a need for introspection. Am I experiencing my best life possible as a human or I am so consumed in the man-made materialistic world that just haven’t had the time to ask the deeper questions.
Yes, we are all a part of society which involves adding value to the world and earning a living so that you can pay the bills, put food on the table and get shelter at its most basic level. But then it is possible to take this societal burden to whatever extent possible. Take loans to own expensive cars, homes or holidays which makes it even more necessary to continue playing the societal dance. And most of us live and die playing this dance through our lives. Think this is life, revel in it, believe in it.
But what if there is a beyond which we haven’t even explored. The beyond which resides in our “individuality” and in our calling. The fundamental requirement to answer the calling is to separate yourself from the pressures of the society and identify what you love doing. Now most of us are in no position to follow these passion areas full time. But it shouldn’t stop us from spending time on these activities everyday even if for 1-2 hours. You may not gain anything externally but the internal satisfaction in being able to do what you love on a regular basis will make you smile everyday, a satisfying smile which comes from a deeper place, in spite of all the pressures you face in your life. It is pure love, you don’t care about anything else except for the activity you are involved in. Think about it and experience it for yourself.
