Everyday Musings > Stuck on you

I bought myself a copy of Rujuta Diwekar’s ‘Don’t lose your mind, Lose your weight’. It’s a delightful read and one of the most sensible words on diets I’ve read so far. She doesn’t mince any words, has plenty of examples to state and brings in references from everyday life to make you smile, laugh and nod your head vigorously at various pages. The core of what she says is that don’t pick up something that you don’t see yourself maintain for the rest of your life. That something like a 3-day diet is not a lifestyle, just an experiment. And we make countless such taxing experiments on our bodies and minds in search of that perfect diet that will make us who we want to be.

It made me think about sticking to something forever. Does the idea still have relevance in today’s times? We are bored easily and in constant need of stimulation, thanks to television or the constant churning or so many new, exciting gadgets and products. By the time you start getting used to one, there’s new, improved you-just-have-to-get-this version 1.2. Where does it end?

My parents have had the same furniture for many years now. The upholstery changes every time it needs to and not because mother is bored with the print or wants to change her decor. The furniture they get made is made from ‘good wood’ that they believe should last for a long time. And they’ve been having the same staple diet since they were born. They stick to things, and like being stuck to them. It’s not imprisonment or a factor for boredom, but satisfaction and familiarity that makes them content and happy. For them, change does not equal to happiness.

Today’s world offers constant change. Moving cities is not such a big decision now; there is ease in having multiple relationships, experimenting with varied cuisines, changing furniture and decor according to one’s moods. Life has become full of choices and we ironically, change works because we are perhaps not prepared to or we do not want to make a choice. And always live with alternatives up our sleeve. Lest the one choice we make sticks and we can’t unstick it.

I wonder, if today, we walk around with alarms that go off in our heads if we’ve been doing the same thing for years. There’s a word for it, rut. And it’s applied even where it possibly doesn’t apply. If being in the same place for years a rut, then perhaps moving around but living your life in circles and not finding contentment is also a rut. And we need to pay heed to that too. So no matter how much I might find my parents need to be hold on to a life they know as being familiar being ‘stuck’, just because I move cities and change my habits and taste and wardrobe every few months, doesn’t mean I’m not ‘stuck’ too.

On March 15th, it’s eight years since I joined Ogilvy. New comers ask me how, what, really?? Old timers smile because they understand how it feels. Some jumpers and hoppers smirk and say, so what next? I honestly don’t know. It’s like living inside a jelly pod. You’re held in by all the gooey stuff, but there’s enough room to unstick from it all. Right now, I choose to stick.