One way to do this is by choosing our dharma, our passion – it could be drawing, painting, photography, reading, writing, dance, or whatever lifts the spirit, and follow it. This is what Bulgarian essayist Maria Popova calls ‘Parallel Reality‘.
To find joy for oneself and spark it in others, to find hope for oneself and spark it in others, is nothing less than a countercultural act of courage and resistance. It is a matter of discovering a parallel reality, where joy and hope are equally valid ways of being, writes Popova.
To underscore her point, she then quotes artist Rene Magritte as saying, ‘I live in a very unpleasant world because of its routine ugliness. That’s why my painting is a battle, or rather a counter-offensive.’ We must go in search of enchantment. This, in a way, complements Viktor Frankl on saying ‘yes’ to life, in spite of everything, writes Popova.
Many of us have come to realise the compulsion of living a parallel reality, to have a meaningful life, rather than sacrificing ourselves by merging with the gloom created by people around us.