House of the Rising Chi

By Meghana Bhimarao

This painting, titled “House of the Rising Chi”, is how I envision the Forbes Ignite Impact Fellowship experience. We start with the maze at the bottom of the image — there are marbles making their way through the maze, sometimes hitting dead ends or trick pathways. At times, the task seems daunting, like trying to find a light switch in the dark. We are looking for solutions to tough problems. Problems that can’t be fixed with one quick answer. Problems that require insight into technology, but also into human behavior.

Armed with our unique backgrounds and experiences, each team makes their way through the maze in their own manner. There is no right answer, rather many answers that will take them to the end of the labyrinth.

At the end of the maze, we come up, gasp for air. The fruits of our labor slowly rise before us. A beautiful structure, the sun rising behind it — an image of balance and alignment. Our energies have come together, to give birth to a new life force. In ancient Chinese culture, chi or qi, is described as this very life force. It is an energy that permeates and links things together, forming one functional unit. By harnessing our energies to create a new flow and rhythm, we’ve made sure that our path to creation is characterized with stability and longevity.

We are women, from all walks of life, from across the globe, each with our own skill set. But we are united by the drive to change the world we live in — even if in the smallest way. We want to build, create, design, for the world we live in, and that’s why we are a part of this fellowship. We might not see the house yet, but we’re definitely building it. A house with warmth, care, and empathy. This is a fellowship where we are creating something that aligns with the world around us, as natural as the sun rising every morning.