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2020: A Year of Calamity?
Lowell Sheppard • February 15, 2020
"If you find a path with no obstacles it probably does not lead anywhere"
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, 19th Century Novelist
In a few weeks' time, not far from my home, thousands of naked men will parade through the streets
to celebrate in spectacular fashion, their manliness. It is an annual gathering for men who have recently turned 40 years old. Fittingly, it takes place near a shrine erected in honor of the penis.
Aimed to take place just before Japanese companies offer promotions to their workers, the festival serves as a pep rally for aged 40-plus men, who fear that this could be their Yakudoshi
or "year of calamity". (Yaku
means "calamity" and doshi
means "year"). It is a year men dread as their straight-line lives may be disturbed and that they will not rise in rank as each year there are fewer promotions to go around. Any deviation from the hoped for trajectory is feared.
The year 2020 (interesting that 20+20 = 40) has not started well with the Corona Virus, or as it is now officially called Co-vid19. I do not need to articulate here the economic and social consequences of the virus, and the fear the virus has already caused, not to mention the sadness for families, communities and entire cities who are coming to grips with the illness and loss of life that has overtaken them.
This week I have returned from a three-country tour of Asia and it has been interesting to see how different governments and peoples have reacted to the crisis. And upon coming home yesterday to Japan, some people are reticent to meet me for fear that I am now a carrier. The fear is acute and our excitement for a new year and decade is dissipating rapidly as we face an uncertain few months. As we inch ourselves forward into the mist of tomorrow it has helped me reflect on life`s essentials and renew my resolve to embrace the following:
Accept it: Curves and Calamities
Life is not a straight line. While we may plan for hoped for trajectories, life throws us curve balls and we must not be surprised when the road ahead is no longer straight. I once read a quote by a Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama, who spent the final years of his life teaching at Columbia University and with whom I corresponded in the last two years of his life. He said, "The womb is not a CUBE."
The image is helpful, as a womb, where life begins, is both fluid and flexible, as is life itself. Therefore, we need to be alert to changes that come, and embrace the momentum in new directions that these changes bring. The womb is not a static shape: it is flexible. Adapting to the changes of the emerging life within it. Life's surprises remind us that we are alive. Straight-line lives are rigid and unnatural and become humdrum. It often takes a shock to liberate us from such a life. Life is really a series of twists and turns, beginnings and endings, entering and leaving. Each exit points us to a new entrance.
Believe it: Bedrock and Ballast
True values and sense of mission are durable. It is at times like these that we return to the basics of who we are and what we believe about ourselves and our world.
During crisis, we discover the importance of what we really believe and whether the words we use to craft our values and mission are authentic and real or just words we felt looked good on our CV or Corporate Mission Statement
page. Deeply held values are weighty and provide the ballast needed to navigate troubled times and the bedrock to give firmness of foot.
Seek it: Inspiration and insight
At times like these we need to lift our eyes and see the distant horizon and perhaps discover new ones. Sight of these distant goals can have a profound effect on our ability to cope with the now, as we know we are on a journey to a better place. So embrace stories and narratives of hope and allow them to beckon you forward.
You may consider this exercise during moments of reflection:
- List the parts of your life that you would describe as a straight-line. How could you bring variety and diversity into your life just now?
- Is your social network simply an extension of your personal tastes and experience? If so, look for opportunities to add to your social repertoire.
- How do you view failure and hard times? Make a list of what good has come because of them.
- Review and reevaluate your values and mission. What is the bedrock of your life’s mission and values
- Jot down a story of HOPE or the name of someone who inspires you and meditate on these things
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