The seventh episode of Mastering Mediocrity premiered on 26 October 2020, featuring producer and musician Rajith Maligaspe. Here are a few of our memorable moments from our conversation with Rajith on this episode of Mastering Mediocrity.
The ‘it is what it is’ culture
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have caused massive changes to our daily lives – changes that happened rapidly and abruptly. Life adjustments often come with a range of experiences and emotions. For Sri Lanka, adjusting to the “new normal” came with a price. While many people had to switch to working from home, there were so many others who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. This caused major financial issues in many households and also took an emotional toll in our lives.
The duo spoke about how there are still some people out there who believe they wouldn’t be infected because they are naturally “immune”. Both Rajith and Zeeshan agreed that it is due to such ignorant thoughts and behaviour of people that this virus is spreading at a rapid pace. Apart from the financial instabilities, staying at home for a long period brought out many of the suppressed mental health issues in people, which in turn affected their own personal lives.
As they continued to share their thoughts and personal experiences from the previous lockdown, it was deduced that this pandemic also interrupted the careers of many content creators with their clients pulling out on their upcoming projects. Unfortunately, it is what it is, and the only way we could redeem our lost time from the lockdown is to move forward – but this time, with more caution.
Social media and the hunt for validation
With the Covid-19 pandemic diminishing our real-life communications with our friends and family, people have resorted to using social media to stay in touch. It certainly does not come without a catch. The increased use of social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook has got many individuals of the younger generation addicted and thus seeking constant validation from their friends online.
Rajith mentioned that the more we use social media during the day, the more it messes with our minds without our own knowledge. He is thereby taking a minimalistic approach to social media where there is less clutter and more meaningful content which would add value to his life. He further discussed with Zeeshan how there is still a percentage of people who are very reliant on social media that their minds subconsciously pick up their phones to scroll through it.
The inability to draw the line on how long they spend on social media will inevitably affect their productivity and efficiency levels in their work lives. To put it mildly, unlocking your phone is like going down the rabbit hole – you never know where you will end up. It is vital that we learn to balance between our personal lives and our public presence without giving into the societal expectations of how we need to live our lives.
To sum up, this episode was relatable in terms of our experiences during Covid-19 and our guilty pleasure of scrolling through social media. You certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on jamming to Elton John’s song along with Rajith on this episode either.
(Episode transcribed by Amani Najumudeen)
Watch Episode 7 of Mastering Mediocrity in its entirety here: https://youtu.be/BjF29FL5eQ0