Perhaps, I Don't Know

I was having my lunch with Jef, a rare occasion for both of us, nowadays, since circumstances led us both to the "busy" side of work, he had his usual tasks and I had my "raket"which led us both to take parallel lines of lives, simply put, we rarely meet. We sat by the entrance steps of CLLL building, while eating because we are waiting for Venj to ask him for some insights about our classroom research. It turned out, since I would have to say, that Venj is an authority to many things, he was able to give insights not just about the research, but to Jef's existential dilemma. Perhaps, I'm still a Martian, or should I say, a Venetian to the male specie, which is very rightly that time has permitted Jef to meet Venj that lunchtime for some tips on finding meaning in life. Perhaps, Venj had been there, done that. He already took some time off, off to work, off to family, off to the world he is so used to. He took some time off to contemplate, to think and rethink and just be with himself. I guess, all people need that despite multiculturalism, the concepts of cooperation and collaboration and community. We all need to have time on our own. Yes, no man is an island, but, perhaps, people will encounter moments in their life that they need to take a break from people, from noise, from distractions, from mere thinking.

Looking back on the film (and novel), Eat Pray Love, they say that Italian people have the concept of “Doing Nothing”. Italians allot a day in their life to do nothing. Like a time-out from the routine of life. If we adopt our fellow Asian countries’ culture, and they invade us by storm, why don’t we try to immerse ourselves with this Italian concept? Perhaps, we would be better workers, better thinkers, better individuals if we allow ourselves to inner monologues and soliloquy. That’s why perhaps, we, Filipinos don't know what we are looking for, much more where we are heading for. Perhaps, we don't know why we're here and why do we keep on doing these things?

Perhaps, this is what Jef needs. He needs a long overdue time out from the exhaust of life’s strife. Perhaps, it would do him good. It would energize him. I don't know for I haven't done it unlike Venj. What I did was only to escape that's why I am where I am now. I am an escapist. That's why, that long overdue break keeps on haunting me until now because I avoided it. So, I guess if a person feels like having a break then get it. You owe yourself to listen to whatever your mind and heart tell you and a person can never listen unless there is tranquility within.  

*to dzEf, I hope and will continue to pray that you will find your muse that will give you the driving force again to find happiness in your life despite the darkness looming over the world, and most of all, like what Kung-Fu Panda said, "Find your inner peace".