Liquidity of intents and commitment

Janu Sirsasana C

Commitment is as rare as hen’s teeth and in Ashtanga practice it is sometimes quite difficult to stay strong in one’s resolve, for students and teachers alike.

We live in a liquid community where solidity is an uncommon and often misunderstood asset or gift. Solidity not to be confused with consistency and congruence, given that one can be perfectly consistent in his/her liquidity.

A liquidity not only of feelings and emotions, which has always existed - I don’t think it is a specific feature of these challenging times. Liquidity in so many domains: ethical, moral, civic, social, working, commercial, communications ... you name it.

A liquidity that, by the way, is a close relative of the haste and urgency that typify the times we are living in.

Liquid are, for example, those people who, while carrying out a business or an activity that maybe excites them deeply, do their task only halfway, setting all kinds of (mental) blocks and not accepting the whole specifics and perhaps the implicit obligations. They do not commit themselves to the end, slosh around like shaken oil, stop at the borders of non-involvement, unknowingly depersonalize and kind of anonymize what they do, and then maybe complain about the lack of consistency and loyalty of their customers, clients, students, teachers or whatever.

For goodness's sake, it's a legitimate choice - as legitimate as the feedback they receive.