SORABH GUPTA, MS
Art has always been an abundant river that I dipped into - albeit privately and quietly. The pandemic changed that completely. Now, in my role as an executive coach, consultant and advisor to/for leadership and organization development, I see my work as one of building helping relationships that foster wholeness and integrity. These relationships with and among individuals and groups within organizations are absolutely paramount to the work of development and growth. A systems psychodynamic perspective involving deciphering of unconscious thoughts and feelings, understanding of resistances and defense mechanisms, and assessing of transference and countertransference reactions helps with this work greatly. And because in psychoanalytic theory, seeing is intimately associated with internalizations, with devouring and incorporating - in other words ‘eating with one’s eyes,’ art has become that river that my clients and I always pay a visit.
Daimon or Demon?
(Soft Pastels on Paper 16.5” height x 11.75” width)
Experiencing being infected thrice during the pandemic and living in India, a country with the strongest lockdowns in the early phase, I “heard” repeated calls for serious introspection. The length and intensity of the experiences made the calls impossible to ignore, and the work incredibly daunting. While I naively and courageously embarked on the quests to increasingly face the good and the evil within, the heat of the insights and the choices available were often far more intense than what I could handle and follow through with. Older definitions of “I” have now become unsustainable and experiences of something far more expansive and stronger have begun exerting their stronghold. These experiences are what I have attempted to capture, hold and contain through art.
The original Ancient Greek word daimōn never appeared to have carried negative connotations, as it denoted a spirit or divine power. However, morally ambivalent daimōn were replaced with the word demons - forces of evil striving for corruption. Experiences in the pandemic appear to have put in place a capacity to begin listening to whispering voices that lead towards and away from corruption. Socrates’ warned him what not to do in crucial moments. Goethe’s is credited for his poetic and scientific feats. Rudyard Kipling’s suggested to not think consciously and instead drift, wait, and obey. Carl Jung’s proved decisive. Nietzsche’s, acted as a guiding spirit that been showing him the way all along. I wonder about the presence of such voices inside each and every one of us?!
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