The Art of a ‘Plan B’

I think it was Kundera (I bet you saw that coming that I’d quote him, and surprised I have not yet mentioned Sartre) who wrote in his ‘Art of the Novel’, that he has always deeply, violently, detested those who look for a position (political, philosophical, religious, whatever) in a work of art, rather than searching it for an effort to know, to understand, to grasp this or that aspect of reality. You see, if I am ever to fantasise about life (future, or past, the present is rather raw and plain material to work with, while past and future can be remembered or filled with such a detail; and the more you revisit it in your thoughts, the more new details you may uncover), that would be me viewing it as a novel, and myself as its character, and predictably the narrator.

I believe everyone is here on a mission. Everyone is here to be significant someday to someone somewhere. Since we are not briefed in advance, all we can do is observe and be attentive, noticing clues along the way and making use of them.
Over a decade ago, my only mission was gymnastics (being a professional athlete). Unfortunately, this mission could never be completed to deliver me a sense of achievement due to my injuries (or being a professional athlete also includes the inability to take a moment and feel that sense of achievement). And all these scenarios from the movies or books, where the hero is trapped in a paradox of being a hero but yet to make up a new course of action, since he couldn’t save the world as he had planned. This is where the tale of ‘plan B’ comes into play.

“Life may have its own course and it isn’t indebted to us to negotiate it.”

Superficially and inherently to imperfect human nature, we like to see the concept of ‘plan B’ as that ‘hidden Ace down our sleeve’, that has been there since the game started to secure an ultimate win. And then when it comes to reality, we get a cold splash of realism in the face, when we see life not going as initially planned, but also struggling to come up and use the ‘plan B’. Why? What if that’s because we forget that ‘plan B’ is not another tool or trick that is always available to apply, but what if it’s a realisation of a potential failure and accepting it? Accepting that nothing can be perfect and that most things cannot play out by the script we predicted for them in our head. What if ‘plan B’ is allowing things to happen in such a way that would be least predictable to us? Not only that, ‘plan B’ is a skill, it’s an ability to work with what we have and never lose direction, rather than dwelling on the fact that life may have its own course and it isn’t indebted to us to negotiate it. What I often forget is so fundamental to handling life that not everything falls under our control. We love the idea of the ‘plan B‘ as a cunning trick to come out dry of the water, but we forget to acknowledge that it is the ability to allow ourselves to fall, but also rise again right away, and keep going. That thing that people say about life giving you lemons and that you will make lemonade – that is a ‘plan B’ in action.

After my sports career, I was in desperate need of a ‘plan B’ to stay active and keep my mind and body in shape. That ‘plan B’ later on determined my early twenties, and I think in a way forecasted my current way of life. This is when I discovered fashion, modeling, ballet, and theatre, the art of movement and performance. These are the things that have been consistently dragging me out of the existential abyss. As much as being in professional sport, these shaped me up and made me who I am now, gave me a sense of belonging anywhere I go, gave me confidence in what I can bring as an individual and personality.

“Plan B is a skill, it’s an ability to work with what we have and never lose direction.”

So ‘plan B‘ to me is also remaining optimistic, as in seeing opportunities even in the depths of failure; it is sensibility yet combined with courage to keep going and starting it over and over again.
How many plans Bs I have lived already, I cannot count, and I think I finally figured it out that as a 3-time immigrant, former athlete, ex corporate plankton, and a model – I remain humble and determined to cherish my past, without necessarily identifying with it, because I know that I must be open to whatever future will bring.

This project was created as a tribute to an athlete’s body and mind, and a symbol of determination and discipline to keep going and not only overcome but respect every obstacle we may meet along the way in life. We gave it a slight fashion twist to honor my 10 years in modeling, as such a significant part of my adolescence and something that shaped my prism to look at the world now and seek beauty and art. Just like Kundera wrote – ‘The brain appears to possess a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful’.