BANANACUE
REPUBLIC
Vol I, No. 15
Dec 15, 2004
by Leoncio Olobia
Website:
Leoncio
The
Joys of Nothing
Agnes told me i didn't write any article for this week's edition of the BQR magazine. I was appalled, disgusted not to her but to the circumstances that surrounded me last week when I wrote about four articles taking breaks while packing and repacking heavy luggage for my family's return to the Philippines. I must have forgotten to click the send button, one of those mundane things you have to remember in this complex, internet-sick lifestyle.
I tried to remember the flow of my thoughts hoping a bit of residue still lingers in my mind. Nothing. Abosolutely nothing. So today I spent a cozy day walking around Front Street along the Dutch Side of St. Maarten in the Caribbean. So hungry because I literally forgot my regimen of orange juice and bagels for my ritual, I decided to stop at my favorite French resto amid the chaos of touring shoppers. Just about to finish my quite meal when I realized I forgot my wallet. Wow, indeed the whole time it was a series of nothingness in the literal sense. If I have to dwell on the details on how I got out of the restaurant, the police might have a good laugh on me.
Which brings me to the subject of nothing. It is not a philosophical quest but a gesture one accepts when everybody else is so busy attending to things and you, or in this sense, I, am quite the contrary. I have lived a life of constant struggles especially during my school days all the way to college. When there was barely enough food on the table not to mention the sachet toothpaste the whole family had to utilize for a number of days. When my meager allowance could not even take me back home on a jeep ride because along the way my stomach was rumbling for street food. When there was nothing in my head during exams because my teachers did not provide proper lessons and much more. Much more which contributed to bare nothingness. Despite all this, I am still full of energy although I must believe I ameliorated myself from abject poverty.
When void fills you up, it can turn to an opportunity to examine life's wonder. Yes it is a passionate existence we all enjoy. Our heart listens to the moods and swings we feel. Our natural reflex is so strong that in the face of nothingness, our energy is excited. We begin to think and feel once again. We digest the polluted surroundings because the mind is not clogged up with trivialities.
How can we pause in silence and beg for emptiness in this noisy world? How much languishing can we bear to continue breathing a life of congestion?
There are answers to these quests. Yes, we sleep after a day of madness and in this unconscious state, our entity melts to oblivion. When dreams pervade those moments, they are ephemeral only. They don't picture reality because at that moment, reality freezes. We travel a void space where nothingness floods. At this time, time doesn't exist.
If we can parallel this state of nothingness in our conscious state, then perhaps our simple ways of life-dealings can bring us ultimate joy. The mind grows and reacts to all stimuli but if we deny the privilege, it can certainly dwell in void. If you are confused about my point, it is because you think too much. When you don't, that's the point.
I would like to continue with the thought that in a life of nothingness: picture a house from a distant place where no road can reach it and the chirping of birds provides nocturnal sound, there is hope for everything. There is life living. There is bliss and simple joy because the cycle of civilization is away from the quiet soul. There is no problem of modern sickness because nothingness is glowed with everything - joys of nothing.
Posted 12/18/04. Send your comment to
bananacue_republic@yahoo.com
"Our natural reflex is so strong that in the
face of nothingness, our energy is excited. We begin to think and feel
once again. We digest the polluted surroundings because the mind is not
clogged up with trivialities."