#4: Life is one big Olympics
And not just a singular race, as the world pretends
What I Say When I Am Asleep is now Kindred Spirits. Don’t ask me why — calculated decisions have never been my forte.
Note: Today’s newsletter is a longer version of an internal newsletter that I wrote for the design firm I work at, as I do every Friday.
Today morning I folded my daily newspaper with a huff, shifted to Twitter and shut that down as well. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this — I detest reading the news for obvious reasons yet feel compelled to keep myself updated, and it’s not a happy activity. But today, I closed everything because the common thread that was demanding my attention was that a handful of companies got investors to shell out some serious ventures, making them unicorns, decacorns and other corns. If you’re far from the world of start-ups, you’re lucky, in a way. I, however, live in the country of start-ups and also work for a couple, so much of my algorithm-curated news feed highlights small companies who’ve won the race to the top.
I recently spent some time on The Book of Life and, after reading the stories of all these corns, had a reading-induced epiphany, of sorts. It hit home that the race for money, fame and prestige is often made out to be the most important race of all. The accepted dichotomy, that one person wins and the others become “losers” by default, is misleading at best. It implies that all of life is one single race and, if the end is known, then only one can win.
But the complex and epiphanic truth of the matter is this: life is one massive Olympics of sprints and 10K marathons, happening all at the same time. Let me paint a picture for you.
On Track 1 are individuals who prioritise money, fame and prestige. Nearly everyone who’s anyone is here, jostling for elbow space and a better view. So is the media and the past and future runners who are scoping out their competition.
On other tracks though, there are races that celebrate efforts and successes that are just as worthy of paying attention to. Track 2 measures selflessness and devotion to the community. Track 3 is a show of those who hard carry their teams to the finish line at work, despite not being in the lead. Track 4 measures the miraculous ability to be patient around kids with a million questions. Track 5 sees a runner helping everyone else to the finish line because a victory for one is a victory for all.
The point is, it might often seem like we’re falling behind in a highly glorified race that receives everyone’s attention. We’re constantly being fed news stories with common threads — A receives 8 billion dollars as funding from venture leader B; C wins an award for outstanding whatever-it-is that they do. If you aren’t famous or rich, you’re nothing. But that’s a blatant lie.
What I’m trying to say in my own rambling way is that we shouldn’t let these over-hyped and monopolised races overshadow equally important but lesser-seen races, where we’re probably already succeeding. And in the off chance that we ‘fail’ at one, we get a chance to shine on another track — maybe that of gratitude, fortitude, “I tried my best” or “I’ll try again”.
In that spirit, here’s wishing you success — however you define it — at all the races that matter to you.
A quick hello to my new readers who’ve signed up from all the pockets of the internet I’ve shared this link to! I’m so glad you’re here and even happier that you’re willing to let me occupy time and space in your inbox and mind. Attention is a precious thing and I’m ever grateful for yours. If you like what you read, please share this newsletter with someone who you think will love it, too. You can also buy me a coffee if you’re able to ✨
Things I’ve been loving lately
From my bookshelf: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
From my playlist: Tokyo Drifting (with Denzel Curry) by Glass Animals
I quote “we shouldn’t let these over-hyped and monopolised races overshadow equally important but lesser-seen races, where we’re probably already succeeding.”
Yes, you are right. I call it ‘ant philosophy’ means an ant is performing equally well as compared to any elephant. It not about what elephant can do but instead even if ants stop doing their bit then the whole ecology will get disturbed.