Face the 4 walls at home

 

The government keeps reminding seniors above 60 to stay home, avoid going out unless it is to purchase essentials. Today's Straits Times published comments made by some seniors who seem to ignore the advice. Most of the comments seem to highlight the stifling boredom and being unhappy  staying at home the whole day. Another prevalent feeling is finding it hard to pass time or as one man puts it "At least when I am outside, time passes more quickly".

Wishing for time to pass more quickly sounds rather sad to me. It gives the impression that time on earth is a drudgery to be rid off. The feeling that time passes too slowly probably stems from boredom, unhappiness, purposelessness and not being engaged with something pleasant or interesting.

It scares me a bit to think that we depend so much on external stimulus to make life worth living. As we grow older the final reckoning is when body frailty and incapacity confines us at home. How do we then find meaning and purpose to live on when (as described by these senior) we have to "face the 4 walls at home"?

The first strategy is of course to delay such a situation as long as possible by staying healthy and keeping fit. The way I see it, the next best step to is to begin looking inward, to connect with our inner self and learn about 'Being'. Perhaps you can call it solitary spiritual pursuit sans group participation or having your own quiet time with God, the supreme being or whatever that can or cannot be named. The whole idea is to reconnect with some universal energy and mimimise dependency on our senses which continuously need stimulation to make us feel alive. This second strategy is best carried out when you have to "face the 4 walls at home".

Being forced to pursue this is perhaps another disguised blessings from Covid.