COVID-19 :: Integration in a Challenging Situation

The current situation reminds me of 'integration' as I find this image of Geralt very compelling to display.

Integration is the 'way of adding slices to find the whole'.

We cannot go back to the old normal. This is the new normal. Things are very different now. What is lacking is that empty space from the old normal -- that empty space is a blank whole. Another blank whole is the new normal to which we must adapt, whether we like it or not.

Everyone is on equal footing with the others as this coronavirus discriminates no one as to target as long as it can find a living host without the right defense system. We must learn how to co-exist with it, until the right vaccine is discovered and proven to be tested succesfully, to be on the preventive side, which is far better than curative.

Survival with great consideration in the basics -- food security and health, is what matters most these days.

So how are people 'adding slices to find the whole'? In our daily lives, how do we do integration in a very challenging situation? What about integrated self for an integrated world?

We need to passionately meditate on this. What is missing for us to be whole?  Where are those 'slices'?  Can they be found? Are they gone?  If so, can they be replicated or reinvented?

The first consideration is the abode of our spirit, our own self. There are many kinds of attacks and threats around. Physical, emotional, spiritual, cyber, name it -- they are countless, ruthless. It is basically this self in front of your mirror, this restless spirit, who is in search of those 'slices'.

Consider risking your life in a dangerous jungle, and be prepared for the navigation, but be unshakable, and fiery.

The fighting spirit does not die but the body may weaken so it is important to secure foods to get the right nutrients that will sustain the brains, which do the thinking and command all parts of it. These days, we have valued healthy foods and beverages more than ever before.  Every adult family member must strive to contribute to food security of the household. Do all your best to be physically strong by eating and drinking the right foods and beverages, preferably plant-based.

Next is the mindset. If there is something missing or lacking, accept that it is so. When a person dear to us dies, accept that it is what life is all about -- a journey, when a person has to come and to go when called by the Creator to go back home. If you miss a beloved living person who cannot be with you for some months, or years, understand the reason. Never misjudge anyone. Perhaps, if you would only wear augmented reality (AR) eyeglasses, partly you would know what is going on in his/her side.

If you miss enjoying doing/using something in the past which you cannot or simply prefer not to do/use this pandemic period, find that slice of reason to see the real picture and logic behind 'why'.

A  very simple example -- In the past, I used to buy Ariel and Comfort (white) to wash my clothes. I miss the very good smell in my clothes after drying them, but my thinking changed when crisis hit me hard. For many months I have used a cheaper brand of detergent powder/liquid. These are tough days. For me now, it is OK not to have very fragrant clothes as long as they are clean and do not smell bad. In the entrepreneurial part of my brains, something is brewing. I am sure, whatever it is, it will smell good when it comes to fruition. The missing slice -- the old smell? My life can go on without it, and the process of substitution of substitution, and addition to my line of informed and logical choices, makes me feel good.

With the lockdown due to COVID-19, I appreciated my sewing skill (thanks to my beloved mother), which leads to another integration. I cut some of my old pants and leggings. The lower parts I recycled to face masks, pot holder, rice cooker cover and fabric-covered saucers (used jar lids) to prevent table stains, and the upper parts are now nice shorts. I upscaled my old blouses, and they look beautiful.

Jiddu Krishnamurti, wrote on "Commentaries on Living: First Series" --

Life is a total process, the inner as well as the outer; the outer definitely affects the inner, but the inner invariably overcomes the outer. What you are, you bring about outwardly. The outer and the inner cannot be separated and kept in watertight compartments, for they are constantly interacting upon each other; but the inner craving, the hidden pursuits and motives, are always more powerful. Life is not dependent upon political or economic activity; life is not a mere outward show, any more than a tree is the leaf or the branch. Life is a total process whose beauty is to be discovered only in its integration.

Finally, the mindset must lead us to the actualization, of making things real. In a challenging situation, integration requires bringing our inner strengths outside, blending them with other integral part of the universe, utilizing them to the fullest with a raging desire to be greater than challenges particularly this COVID-19 -- wherever we are, in isolation and/or under new normal environment. Then we will find the missing 'slices', one by one, and as the process goes, we discover the beauty of the new whole.

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Photo credits:  Pixabay / Geralt & Hans