A MindFull Journey
Let’s take a step back and observe what is going on around us, the people and situations that we encounter on a daily basis. Starting from the Mad Morning rush of the family at home, the maniac Bus drivers, Suicidal Tuk drivers and Zombie-like corporate executives who are on the road, the people at office who barely raise their head to respond to the Good Morning greeting, gulping down (or skipping) breakfast, haphazard lunch and the mad traffic death race back home where we complain about what a horrible fucking day we had and how we can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow. We are all largely unconscious…not brain unconscious…spiritually unconscious. We are MIND-LESS!
‘EMPTY HEADS’ — in 2013, this is what I though that this would be a suave name for a Creative business, if I ever started one. I thought that it will be a great conversation starter when we meet people and they see the business card. Turns out, this name reflected who I was at that time in my life, my Dreams, Aspirations and most importantly my spirituality. I was blinded in many ways to the stark realities around me, about people, about feelings, about emotions, about Love and about Life. A failed relationship, being unemployed and a streak of 5–6 different jobs within the span of about 18 months put me in dark and cold place where when I looked around, I found no Friends, very little family, no money and no Spirit. It took good old Pushups and a German-born Spiritual teacher to get me out of my emotional dungeon…from being an Empty-head to Mind-full.
I would say that giving up meat in 2013 was my First step toward Mindfulness. I strongly believe that everyone that comes into our lives, for a reason. There are no Insignificant people or things in our lives, we just don’t pay attention or don’t see the impact at that moment.My ultimate decision to give up meat was largely influenced by Dr. Harsha Subasinghe, CEO of CodeGen International and the man behind VEGA, Sri Lanka’s own Electric Super Car. In hindsight, every encounter in my life so far has been with purpose.
Giving up meat had many physical benefits for me, and even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was preparing me for spiritual awakening as well. In 2014, Seeing the negativity and darkness in my soul, my Old friend Damith Gunathilake aka Ryan Gunner aka DJ Nighthawk, hooked me up with the Audio book of Eckhart Tolle’s — The Power of Now. Every word in that book resonated with what I had been through in my life up to that point and what I was seeking at that moment.
Since 2015, I have been ‘trying my best’ to practice mindfulness daily and my life had taken a new turn. Unconscious and Ego persisted but I was also learning to be true to myself and channelling my energy productively. My career was progressing at lightening pace compared to the decade of occupation behind me, I worked hard and learnt to fight for what I wanted. Opportunities came calling rather unexpectedly which saw me take up my last challenge as Chief Operating Officer at an e-taxi hailing startup.
When I finally decided to quit my job as COO at above mentioned startup, it was because I realised that I had drifted away from my path, my true self and my true purpose. I had become a different, unconscious human being. So much so, that I did not even recognise myself in the mirror. And the worst part was that my Dog, Teddy didn’t like me anymore. Now, when your Dog stops liking you, you know that something is Fucked up. So I informed my bosses that I am not cut out for the role that I was in and that it will be best if they recruit someone who is more in sync with the task at hand. I always believed, and even told my team, that if one day you wake up in the morning and you feel like you have to drag yourself to work, then you are doing wrong work (for yourself), and it is time to find your true passion.
Practicing mindfulness had made me want to always question myself and see if there is purpose in what I do on a daily basis. So when I wanted to start my new venture and sat down to brainstorm a name for it, I had to ensure that it will be a name that brings together and holds my values, ethics and principles.
This is how I ended up settling on the name ‘MindFull Ventures’ for my business in 2019. The idea is that, no matter what kind of work I do, I will approach the operation, people, culture and marketing in a Mindful manner and hopefully inspire other people and businesses to evaluate their thinking down the line.
Thanks for reading and be MindFull Always! :-)
