Happy Fluctuation Day!
Happy Fluctuation Day!
Mornings have been described so eloquently by so many thinkers.
But this was a usual morning.
Usual waking up and chores thereafter.
Full of fluctuations.
A meeting that was to happen on the day, got postponed.
I couldn't have the thing I liked for breakfast.
Fluctuations ! Fluctuations ! Fluctuations !
Meanwhile, I wrote some things around "fluctuation" and shared with Roshmila.
She read it and mentioned "it's neat" and "you can share them as your random scribbles".
I didn’t want that!
I had actually wanted her to add her own tone to it so that we could send it to BW.
I realized she was not on the same page as me. She wasn’t seeing and sensing it that way.
We both were fluctuating, unfortunately!
It got us into a rabbit hole of wondering as to why at all do these fluctuations exist and make life tricky!
It made us draw our own perception of why fluctuations exist, whether they are maladaptive or adaptive, and under what circumstances etc.
We realized that fluctuations exist for a purpose.
But maybe we don't see it that way all the time.
We get trapped in the daily mundane,
Missing the larger purpose, of being, becoming and experiencing.
We went down the path of asking some fundamental questions. Here is what we found, that we would like to share with you.
The first question is: Are we aware of the varied nature and types of fluctuations?
So, do we fluctuate on all things?
Or do we fluctuate on some things?
What about things we do not fluctuate on?
Do we bring about these non-fluctuations or does it happen naturally or both?
Are we able to, as clearly, see our own fluctuations as we are able to see someone else’s?
Let's take something for example.
Hmmm! What about intelligence?
Are we intelligent across all contexts at all times in the same way?
Or does intelligence fluctuate within the same person?
Latest researches and our own reflections point to the direction that “intelligence” fluctuates, quite frequently in the same person. And it depends on several factors like nutrition, sleep, mindfulness, context, emotional states, etc.
Similarly, our “intentions” fluctuate, our “decision and post-choice satisfactions” fluctuate, our emotions fluctuate, our confidence fluctuates, and we encounter many more fluctuations every day.
The second question is: Do we create space between us to discuss openly and humanely about fluctuations?
Society puts a high price to some things where it wants certain behaviour, certain goals, certain methodologies. These “certains” are actually meant to create “certainties” in the otherwise wild (inner and outer) nature that we inhabit. However, the “fluctuations” discussed above give rise to “uncertainties”. It is also the case that in order to meet the “certainties”, the human being has to tame or harness the inner fluctuations.
So, are we able to manage these inner fluctuations?
Are we all equally capable to manage them?
What gives rise to the differences in our abilities to manage them?
What aspects of these differences can be attributed to incentives/rules/norms/values of the society?
What happens to persons who fall off the crack, while managing these fluctuations?
Do we as humans succumb and resort to unethical practices just to live up to the society’s demand for certainties?
There is some good news!
We have witnessed a rise in alternate structures in recent decades. These are more humanely designed, in a way to offer a safer space, for fluctuations to be negotiated gracefully. U-Theory, Holacracy, Sociocracy, Sistership Circles, and many such beautiful and successful structures are being created and experienced across the entire world. These structures are constantly evolving. This is to solve the challenges discovered on an ongoing basis.
We must also prudently qualify that not all fluctuations serve us. This is because they may be differently adaptive/maladaptive for the individual and/or the ingroup and/or the outgroup. This is precisely why having these alternate structures could help and heal. These structures can then counsel on the fluctuations that can be offered space and to the ones that can’t be.
The third question is: What skills can help people deal with fluctuations irrespective of whether there are spaces to discuss them or not?
With a lack of space for conversation around fluctuations, the best direction is to go inwards. Intuitively drawing out our thoughts and emotions on paper is a wonderful and effective way to process our experiences. Journalling is another way that offers a non-judgemental container for our inner landscapes to rest on. These skills have been our go-to “friends” in times of distress, absence of supportive structures around, etc.
Also, when we put them out in these forms, sometimes, we are able to see them more objectively. Often times it acts as a mirror by showing us our fluctuations which otherwise are blind spots in our minds. At other times, it helps us come back to the “human” we are, and make peace with our many dissonances or plurality or inconsistencies or fluctuations.
So, how are you today?
Don’t fluctuate to give an answer
We know it!
We are all fluctuating.
