Gaman (我慢) is a Japanese term of Zen Buddhist origin that offers a way to navigate challenging times. According to Julian Littler’s article in Worklife, The Art of Perseverance: How Gaman Defined Japan, Gaman is the idea that individuals should show patience and perseverance when facing unexpected or difficult situations, and by doing so maintain harmonious social ties. The concept implies a degree of self-restraint: you put the brakes on your feelings to avoid confrontation. It’s an expected duty and seen as a sign of maturity. David Slater, professor of anthropology and director of the Institute of Comparative Culture at Tokyo’s Sophia University, describes Gaman as a set of strategies to deal with events outside our control. “Individuals develop within themselves an ability to persevere and tolerate things that are unexpected or bad, difficult to get through,” he says. (https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190319-the-art-of-perseverance-how-gaman-defined-japan, March 19, 2019)
The virtues of Gaman can and have been argued. I first heard the term during an NPR interview with George Takei. Takei used the term to describe his father as he spoke about life in the internment camps. According to Takei, there was a certain resolve and self-restraint about his father as he endured the humility of camp life. The Judeo Christian text speaks of resolve and self-restraint and terms such as patient endurance and perseverance. Like those who practice Gaman, those who engage in patient endurance and perseverance are applauded for their maturity.
One can argue that we are definitely experiencing unexpected or difficult situations. Like generations before us, our strategies and plans are tossed aside as we pivot and recalibrate to a new normal, sometimes daily. Things we counted on have changed. Experiences we looked forward to have changed, and we find ourselves navigating new norms and mores.
Truth be told, change has always been with us. Humans by nature are resilient. Our species is adaptable and strong. Remember middle school? And high school? We made it. I am not saying it was easy (yes, I do have stories)… but we made it. We created strategies, survival techniques, coping mechanisms, etc. to deal with events outside our control. We tolerated things, and pushed through things. We were patient and endured. In persevering, we built resilience. Did we come out unscarred? Not likely. Each of us has scars. Some on the outside and others deep, deep inside. But… we made it.
This year, we will make it. We will create new strategies and follow strategies to deal with events outside our control. We will use self-restraint and resolve to navigate the unknown. We will endure and persevere. We will build resilience. How do I know? Because we did so last year. As a community, we mitigated a virus that took countless lives. As a community, we sacrificed our individual freedoms for the sake of our community. We pivoted online. We masked. Instead of two graduation ceremonies (undergraduate and graduate), we had five. Did we like it? Not one bit, but that does not matter. What matters is we did it and we will do it again with resolve, and self-restraint… and we will do it together. #HornetFam4theW