It's a scary time

The start of the new year/decade so far has been pretty intense. As most of you know, I am living in mainland China, where the outbreak of the coronavirus has been spreading, infecting, and killing many people. I won’t lie, it is pretty scary. The once bustling streets of Shanghai are now empty yet filled with a feeling of eeriness that you might see from an end-of-the-world or apocalypse movie. The few people that are outside are all wearing face masks. The few who are not wearing face masks either don’t care OR they have no choice because face masks have literally been sold out from each shop/pharmacy. Reading about the updates on the virus on the internet just brings more panic and fear. Then I woke up yesterday morning to the news that the legendary Kobe Bryant and his young daughter Gianna had passed away in a helicopter crash. What can I make of all this?

No one is immune to death.
No one can escape death.
Not the wealthiest Chinese business people.
Not even one of the greatest athletes of all time.
No one.

Interestingly enough, Kobe Bryant actually used to be my boss. Years ago, when I worked at an advertising agency in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant was part owner of that small agency. We mostly focused on sports and entertainment brands. Kobe would pop into the office from time to time for big meetings and would come to our annual summer parties. I even had the pleasure of shooting a video for him for a small interview project we were working on. On the days we knew we would see Kobe, we would all clean our desk areas like crazy, wear our best outfits, put on our biggest smiles and await for his arrival. I remember always feeling very nervous and my hands would trembling each time I shook his hand. And now suddenly, just like that, with a blink of an eye, his soul, along with his daughters, has departed the physical body. It was unexpected and it is heart breaking.

For me, it’s also a reminder. A reminder that our time here is very limited and there is no way to know exactly how much time we will have. It doesn’t matter who you are. You can be rich, poor, old, young, black, or white, and it won’t make a difference. At some point, we will move on from this earth.

It also reminds me this word us yogis are always using, “NAMASTE.” We use it as a simple greeting. But really what does it mean? I remember the first teacher to explain this to me said, “Namaste means that the light in me honors the light in you.” Another said to me, “Namaste means that I bow to the Devine in you.” Wow. That is really beautiful and extremely powerful. It is acknowledging that I am no better than you, and you are no better than me. I am your teacher, and you are also my teacher. That we are equal. That we are all DEVINE.

We are all DEVINE.

I hope that this realization impacts how we treat each other. That we do not look down upon others. That we do not put ourselves up on a pedestal. That we learn to be compassionate and kind to people. Most of all, I hope that we learn to be kind and compassionate towards ourselves and live the lives that we DREAM of living. Do we really want to waste our limited time here being unhappy, frustrated, and letting some unimportant things trouble our minds? What changes can we start to make now so that we are working towards living a satisfying life? Maybe it means severing some toxic relationships, or learning that new language you’ve always wanted to learn, or applying for that dream job you always wanted, or quitting the job that makes you miserable, or maybe it means finally taking the leap and signing up for the next yoga teacher training program! Whatever it is, I hope that we each make our time here worthwhile.

Namaste <3