I get up every morning at 6:45 am and start getting ready. I have a proper breakfast, I take the metro, I get to office at 9. I sit at my desk from 9 to 5:30 every day, 5 days a week. I get an hour off for lunch. I spend my day on the internet, researching or checking the latest happenings in my field, or attending meetings, learning from others. I’m sitting in my cubicle, right now, feeling queasy.
Back home, I used to be a standalone activist. I had my own timings, I used to plan my work according to what I felt was needed, and I had no one telling me what I could or couldn’t do. The freedom to get up and get going was amazing. This new model takes time to adjust to, and why not! It is so different, for almost all of us!
Understanding and learning comes when one is receptive to change. Our attitude towards serving the community doesn’t change, not matter whether we do it from a cubicle, or on-ground. Everyone has a responsibility in the world; change comes when they all work together. It’ll make no sense if everyone worked only on-ground or only from big offices! Yes, for the most hardcore grassroots activists amongst us it might feel that we are “abandoning” the ground work, or things are going bad without us. But trust me; this one year is all about how we can make those things better.
Understand that your fellow activists back home are still doing great work, and that you are here to hone your skills that will eventually benefit work back home. Feel the environment around you…it might be different, but everyone is working towards the same goals. Learn, and share, at your new organization. Make the best of it.
And if you’re a restless person who just can NOT go a week without doing work on-ground, register for volunteering with a local community center, like I’m going to do next week!
(It’s not as bad as the first pic, don’t worry!)
PS: I write this because I’m feeling all this right now, and I know some of you are too. Write about it; share! It helps!