Just Being Dust for a While
I'm on a brief vacation this week — my way of navigating the typical first-week-of-the-year hassle. I visited the planetarium with my family today, where the presenter opened the show with a question: "Today we are going to talk about dust. How many of you are interested?"
The response was dreary unenthusiasm.
But then she illustrated the profundity of it: the agglomeration of cosmic dust. Using simple static electricity (the same subtle force that causes your hair to stand up when pulling laundry out of the dryer), these trivial particles began to bind. Long before gravity or complex orbital mechanics took over, it was just "purposeless" dust sticking together. Eventually, that process built the stars, the sun, and the ground we stand on.
It immediately took me back to my school days in Tamil Nadu in India. We have a practice of applying a small bit of ash to the forehead — a literal and symbolic reminder that we come from dust and to it we shall return.
As a Data Scientist, I spend my life measuring and quantifying complex systems. This habit has naturally percolated into my personal life. By the end of last year, I found myself evaluating my progress toward professional, personal and financial goals, creating detailed metrics and systems to further them. While I was proud of the system I built, it started giving me "New Year jitters" — the constant worry that I might not be doing enough, or that I need to optimize every process to use my time better.
Today's session was a beautiful reminder that it's okay to just "be dust" for a while. I just need to keep floating. I need to keep connecting with new ideas and people, however directionless they seem. We often get so consumed by tying our worth to rigid professional milestones or financial goals that we forget the power of simply being present and, of course, to keep moving.
One day, that natural agglomeration of small movements is bound to become a force of nature.
Relatedly, I highly recommend Slow Productivity by Cal Newport — it's a wonderful New Year read.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.
