If you have used any equipment that comes with a lens, one would notice that often there is a cover to protect the lens when it is not in use. We must have seen these protective covers in cameras, binoculars, telescope etc.
Stay with this thought as we look at an anecdote from the last boot camp in June ’23.
My first memory of an interaction with her, even before the boot camp, she shared worriedly ‘I am totally clueless about my interests? I am not sure what i would like to pursue’. We had a discussion on how the boot camp could be a starting point to get into discovering that passion.
She arrived at the boot camp almost hoping to discover her passion and get enough clarity. It was time to discuss the self challenge that each of the boot camp participants would take up in one domain of their choice. She sighed, ‘I am not really clear about my interests’. I nudged her to think of one of her current interests and get into the process of doing.
She decided on writing and designed her challenge for the next 5 days. After much thought and reflection, she wanted to change the domain to photography on day 01 itself. And she went about deciding which aspect of photography she wanted to explore deeply.
Over the course of our interaction in the following days, she would express the need to gain clarity about her interest area’. Many a times, these expressions would be sub consciously spoken, almost as a habit.
On the other hand, one could see her being immersed in deciding-planning-doing- reflecting on her self challenge in photography. Of course, the entire experience came with its fair share of challenges. Whether it was deciding from the various aspects to narrowing down to ‘Composition’ to technical challenges to deciding on the presentation. But in the entire process of ‘doing’, once could see her respond ‘passionately’ to each situation and discover her own ways of addressing them, sometimes with support and often by herself.
As I look back at this experience, every time she declared ‘I am not clear about my interest’ one could almost see her covering her lens of ‘doing’ and the darkness would further magnify her illusion of not being able to see anything clearly (not having clarity).
Often, the very expectation or mindset of ‘I need to have clarity’ acts as a cover on the lens of our ‘exploration’, further propelling the idea that ‘I am not clear’. Yes, our lens may be out of focus or we may not be able to observe the depth one would want to. All of which can be tuned by immersing oneself into action right away. However, many of us struggle frantically at the very start of our exploration, often exclaiming ‘I can’t see anything’ just because our lens is still covered. Time to take the cover off our lenses and start focusing & observing ourselves as we get into the mode of ‘Doing’.