In a recent post of a geography-centred Instagram account called Glorious Geography, which is run by a dear friend, I came across the term, ‘doldrum‘. The post talks about how the absence of strong winds around tropical regions causes sailing vessels to be stranded in the middle of the ocean, resulting in long and arduous journeys for the sailors and their crew. A deeper dive into learning about doldrums led me towards the origin of the word and how it is used to describe both the natural wind-related phenomenon and melancholy.
Most of us, like the sailors at sea, find ourselves within doldrums at certain points in our lives. For me, I feel like I am stuck in one right now. The pandemic has had life-altering effects for several people around the globe. In my case, it was the fact that the job market in the UK contracted in 2020 and this resulted in me flying back to Mumbai. I’ve had setbacks before, but none have felt this grim. Coming back to Mumbai has been nice in some ways as I’m back here again with family and an incredible support system. But, it does pain me to think about ‘what could have been had the pandemic not happened’. It feels like, from a career standpoint, I had a head start and I was sprinting towards the finish line and I was inches away from the victory ribbon, and now I’m all the way back to the starting line again.
Whenever I’ve been in the pits, I’ve always found myself reading about how most successful people have had peaks and valleys throughout their lives. And it’s the lessons from the valleys that have been the most valuable to them. Some of the common valley lessons that I’ve adopted from the greats is to practice continual learning and build/create using the new skills acquired.
One of the ways I’m coping with this stillness in my life is by learning concepts that I didn’t have the chance to learn earlier. For instance, learning how to code, learning a new language and learning how to make engaging YouTube videos and blog posts. I’ve discussed this process in-depth in my post titled, Never Stop Learning. This practice of continual learning is very helpful in both the doldrum and non-doldrum phases of our lives. Learning provides a sense of growth and development, both of which we generally feel are lacking in our lives when we’re in a doldrum. Learning becomes the wind that slowly pushes our ship closer to the coast.
Applying what we learn is key to ensuring that we keep sailing slowly but surely towards the coast. For example, in my case, learning how to code is slowly helping me to unlock the methods that go behind building a website. Although I haven’t reached my full website building potential yet, it feels good to know that if I keep going down this route and keep applying what I learn, slowly, but surely, I will be able to build one from scratch. Similarly, learning how to write well and applying the lessons within my blog posts and YouTube scripts will help me become a more engaging content creator. And all of these additions to my skill set will help me sail through the still waters and probably help me find a different coast from the one I was initially intending to dock on. This new coast might bring with it newer and more exciting opportunities for growth, development and success.
Well, I hope to find an island soon! Untill then, learning is my friend.