What does staying relevant mean to you?

                                   

With the Pandemic blowing us completely out of our safe and secure space on earth (at least as we saw it) like a tsunami that doesn't bow down and collapse on itself everyone and I mean everyone is finding novel ways to remain relevant.

Being relevant today is as important as it is difficult. But social media and technology has made it easier for us to remain relevant in the eyes of our friends and family and others. On the flip side it has also made it tougher for many who are already struggling with the issue of relevance.

The struggle for relevance keeps us on our toes and inspires and motivates us to do more. We reinvent ourselves, educate ourselves, stay updated with trends, adapt and persevere. The fear of becoming dispensable and unwanted pushes our boundaries and makes us reach for the stars.

Good then you might say. It's all good. But is it really? It's when the whole staying relevant thing becomes a circus that you wonder what's going on. If the very same struggle for relevance becomes tomfoolery rather than inspiring us to do better and be better it is then that it takes a different hue.

With people stuck at home and with no pictures  of their interesting and busy lives and the happening parties and exotic trips to share anymore people have opted to stay relevant in novel ways. From posting their daily stories about the work they do at home, the brooming, the dish washing, the dusting, the elaborate cooking videos, the board games they are playing, the books they are reading, the movies they are watching, the opinions they have about anything and everything especially politics is all out for others to watch or as I put it part of their bid to stay relevant.

We all do it. I am guilty of doing it too. I write - sharing my personal opinions or stories on my blog, I cook exotic food for my family and I am obsessed with cleaning. I believe this is my way of staying relevant - it gives me a high knowing I finished an article, my kids loved my food, and the house is clean. All in the hope that my presence on this planet counts for something. Whether it does or doesn't is a topic for another article.

Each of us have different ways. Not everyone is going to be able to make a vaccine for corona or find a cure for cancer or invent a time machine or solve even one of the Millenium Prize Problems. Thus we do what we do to stay relevant with some even going overboard trying their best to gain attention and limelight.

We force our opinions and judgments on people through social media and off it, we project ourselves as those perfect people who feel the constant need to be like,  talk like, compete with, and live better than everyone else; trying to fit in, we want to garner the most friends, the most likes and comments, be the life of the party, wear the most expensive brands, be that actor who loves to titilate to stay in news, be the author who writes the most books, be the socialite who is everywhere, be that person who is the most active member of social media groups and private clubs. We are also absolutely fine with putting others down to lessen their relevance just so that ours is more. So, anything goes with the result that most are willing to do anything to stay relevant and in the minds of people.

Fame, money and success are always the first things that come to mind when we think about staying relevant. They are in many ways the yardstick we use to measure relevance but they can't be the only way to compute it. Love, friendship, trust, loyalty, humour, kindness, generosity of spirit are more important yardsticks. Most don't value these choosing instead popularity, reputation, big bank balances above qualities we should all work on to stay relevant.

Staying relevant is important but what if it comes at the cost of losing what we as humans should hold most dear - humanity. There are those who quietly go about doing what they love, following their passions, without making a fuss, without craving for recognition - learning, inventing, discovering, creating - they do their best because the need to comes from within and not from the outside.