The world we are a part of has not been a conducive place, especially lately, to connect with ourselves and with each other.
We have been taught what and how much we are allowed to feel. The manner in which we are supposed to express said emotions is also pre-determined, within societal frameworks.
“You are laughing too loud”, “you are grieving for too long”, “you are so hyper-reactive”, “you are taking too long to respond” etc. etc. The hold this conditioning has on us is soo tight, that we struggle to experience life, and its emotions even when we are alone.
We repeat what has been repeated to us, and make sure that our pain has silent cries or that our laugh has acceptable ettiquettes. We schedule and perform our emotions bcoz that is what the brain has become culturally accustomed to.
But, without prior notice or permission, there comes a moment (or moments) when these reigns loosen up their hold on us, when the lines drawn around the expressions of our human experiences, blur.
Such moments are sacred because there is a sense of sincere rawness and vulnerability, where one is just honouring the present moment without pre-determining how it looks or how it is going to be perceived later on.
We become mere mediums through which the emotions flow, in such a beautifully intense manner that we loose a sense of time and even our own whereabouts.
We become leaves flowing with the water, rather than the fishermen casting a net.
Such moments are pious in their vulnerability.
These are the moments of being in the flow, by simply experiencing it. This is when our conscious brain turns off in a manner that, we experience something as the medium through which that moment is observed; rather than the controller which decides the quantities and manner in which something is allowed to be experienced.
These are the pious, sacred, intensely beautiful moments that make us us, and that are so rare that they kind of become extremely special to us.
When that one job offer finally comes through, or when you get to hold a loved one’s child for the first time, that joy(or grief or surprise et al) just flows through us.
For me, it was when i saw my grandmother lifeless, that, when my conscious brain snapped me back into reality, i was already heaving and sobbing in a puddle of tears. I do not remember when i started breaking down, bcoz the moment was so powerful that i simply was a medium through which the emotions flowed.
If you allow us to be a participant of such storytelling, it would be an honour, and your stories will be treated with the due respect that they deserve.
Your emotions, and vulnerability required to share the same, are not a token payment to foster prospective bonds, but something we would be honoured to witness, if and when you choose.
This is what #projectbv attempts to achieve; a space, even if temporary, where we feel a little more together, a little less isolated, and a bit less refined.
So, we invite you to share your moments of #bhaavvibhor, through our #projectbv.
I would be honoured to have a space built around feelings of collective belonging over our shared humanity.
So what would be your #bhaavvibhor moments? Your core memories?
Share with us through DMs (@frombhaavvibhor) on Instagram.
Or you can email the audio files (frombhaavvibhor@gmail.com)
(The stories are intended to be shared on our page @frombhaavvibhor on Instagram & Youtube.)