SUSPENDED ANIMATION

TIME IS RELENTLESS. IT DOES NOT PAUSE. IT DOES NOT WAIT FOR YOU TO DECIDE HOW YOU WISH TO PLAY THIS GAME OF LIFE. CAUGHT IN ITS UNYIELDING CURRENT, MOST OF US FIND OURSELVES PLAYING THE GAME AS OUR PREDECESSORS DID, FOLLOWING THE PATHS DEEMED “SAFE.” ANY ATTEMPT TO DEVIATE OR TO STOP, REFLECT, OR CARVE A NEW WAY FORWARD IS MADE DIFFICULT BY TIME’S INSISTENCE ON MOTION.

THE GAME DOES NOT ALLOW FOR STILLNESS. THE OBLIGATIONS OF LIFE DEMAND CONSTANT ACTION; TO MAINTAIN HEALTH, TO EARN MONEY, TO UPHOLD SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES. THESE PRESSURES KEEP US LOCKED IN A CYCLE OF REACTION, LEAVING LITTLE SPACE TO QUESTION THE RULES OR IMAGINE ALTERNATIVE PATHS.

IT WAS IN RECOGNIZING THIS RELENTLESS NATURE OF TIME THAT THE FOUNDATIONS OF CODESWITCH BEGAN TO FORM. BEFORE CODESWITCH COULD EXIST, THERE HAD TO BE A WAY TO FUNCTION WITHIN THE DEMANDS OF TIME WHILE CARVING OUT ROOM FOR SOMETHING NEW. THE ANSWER CAME THROUGH A STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION.

SUSPENDED ANIMATION IS NOT INACTION. IT IS A PRACTICE OF FUNCTIONAL MINIMALISM, PRESERVING ENERGY, RESOURCES, AND FOCUS TO MEET THE ESSENTIAL DEMANDS OF LIFE WHILE RESERVING A PORTION OF ONESELF FOR BUILDING SOMETHING NEW. IT IS ABOUT SIMPLIFYING TO CREATE SPACE: SUSTAINING THE GAME WITHOUT BEING CONSUMED BY IT.

THIS STATE ALLOWED ROOM TO QUESTION THE STRUCTURES WE INHERITED AND TO BEGIN IMAGINING SOMETHING DIFFERENT. WHAT RULES DO WE KEEP? WHICH DO WE REJECT? AND HOW DO WE BEGIN TO ORIENT OURSELVES IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE IN A WORLD WHERE THE OLD MEANINGS ARE CRUMBLING?

OUT OF THIS STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION, CODE-SWITCH WAS BORN. IT IS NOT A REJECTION OF THE GAME BUT A STRATEGY TO NAVIGATE IT DIFFERENTLY, TO MOVE WITH TIME WHILE MAKING ROOM FOR EXPLORATION, INTEGRATION, AND CREATION.

CODE-SWITCH EMERGED FROM THE RECOGNITION THAT LIFE’S DEMANDS CANNOT BE IGNORED, BUT NEITHER CAN THE NEED TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW. IT IS A FRAMEWORK FOR THOUGHTFUL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORLD, ONE THAT BALANCES THE UNFORGIVING NATURE OF TIME WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGE.

 TIME REMAINS RELENTLESS, BUT WITH CODE-SWITCH, WE FIND A WAY TO MEET IT WITHOUT LOSING OURSELVES IN THE PROCESS.