Our Foundation
- Personal Growth
- May 26, 2024
IF we can time travel back, what year and phase of life would you want to be at? Will you set a new foundation to the beginnings, of how you could have live differently, idealist, opportunist or just reliving life all over again? When I saw this, mimosa, it brings back the childhood memories where sports activities filled most of the school life. I am to expand as much energy as possible during school days, through running and ball games. During Sports Day, we have to sit on the field, waiting eagerly for our next sports line-up, and to compete for the trophies. Those days, just to ease the nervousness and heat, I always find calm by touching the Mimosa plant, the leaves just close up as if it went into the most peaceful sleep. Some friends and I would compete how many Mimosa we can touch and seeing all of them changing from green to dark green amused us. It is also known as “Touch-Me-Not”.
Mimosa, (genus Mimosa), large genus of plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to tropical and subtropical areas throughout both hemispheres. They are so named from the movements of the leaves in certain species that “mimic” animal sensibility. The well-known sensitive plant, or humble plant (Mimosa pudica), is commonly grown in greenhouses as a novelty for its rapid leaf movements in response to touch. Various other species are cultivated as ornamentals for the beauty of their foliage.
Fast forward to 2024, so much of human evolution brings us to a state of, “Touch-Me-Not” as human interaction become distant and digital. Interpersonal relationships are build from digital first mindset. The first job application sent via email. There are no longer snail mail that are handwritten, with a cover letter that are formally written, why you are a candidate that are worthy of the job role. Rejection comes swift and automated, even AI-algorithms can help determine the percentage of suitability just by scanning your pdf-ed CV. When every communication now are digitized, things accelerated and before we know it, we have multiple work streams, tasks, and errands to run. Yet, human kind forgot that we have only 24 hours a day still that has never changed for centuries. Why do we want to accelerate completion of work, tasks, and activities in the limited timebox? How has that impacted our way of lives, and health? Do we eventually, have more spare time to ourselves if the digital lifestyle helps productivity? Who has given us a solid foundation and believed that going digital have make our lives so much better, or we are just being told a big fat lie?
After all the productivity ways being shared with us, from timeboxing to second-brain, we are still busy with many things and do not really find fulfilment in the completed works. We are not able to really enjoy quality of life because after all the tasks, if ever, get completed, most likely we are onto next shiny new things that will keep us occupied. Eventually, after one after another decade passed, we are left with lots of learnings of being productive, building quality of life through sports or entertainment, we are never really truly satisfied with just, simply living our life. Do we eventually become a rock and get mouldy with all our understandings in this lifetime, or we can be like the Mimosa Plant, truly close up and rest when we should, and open up to every new day, as the sun shines upon us, enjoy our every new day as a beginner of living?
