WE ARE in a world where we are too noisy about everything. We fail to stop and reflect and listen to the inner voice. We are too busy with everything. When we start to do things, we look forward to the end and most often we fail to see the details around it.
Looking back before the Covid-19 pandemic hit us in 2020, we were so busy doing nothing. We are always on the run for nothing. We kept ourselves busy getting into the virtual realities and half- truths. Some of us are even busier making fake news.
We lived in a virtual world of untruthfulness. Take a look at the accounts in social media, more than half are living under either pseudonyms or in another fantasy creature. Many become who they are not in social media. We become talkative and we fail to listen to others. We used social media to check on the status of others but we failed to look deeper into ourselves.
Today, when the Covid is knocking at our doors and peeping through our windows. God has gifted us with the opportunity to go back to ourselves and to slow down a bit. This is the time when we can look deeper at the meaning of our individual existence. Covid incidence has given us the time to sit back, relax and live the present moment. We can now appreciate the beauty of time and space. We can appreciate the presence of other people in our lives and we can now enjoy the company of real people and not virtual companions or enemies.
Covid has placed a “dot” in our busy schedules. However, we should not be too confident, the virus is a virus and it kills
Quarantine or isolation can give one a great time to know oneself better. One can reconnect with God and with himself. He will have the time to listen and the time to reflect. This is a respite where we can listen to what our body is telling us. We might be so busy at times that our bodies are quite tired but we fail to listen to it. Most often because of our busy schedules, we fail to listen to our ailing selves that sometimes, our bodies will just cease to work. Covid warns us and tells us that we need to rest and we need to find leisure for ourselves.
Pope Francis, in his message during World Communication Day, reminds everyone that we need to communicate and listen to ourselves. The world is already characterized by talking and talking but we fail to listen to one another. Listening is not simply hearing but it is really putting our attention to what other people are saying or even to what we are saying to ourselves. We need to listen to one another. We are a people characterized by being so reactive and we fail to become reflective.
A professor of mine once told me the real meaning of reflection. It is placing oneself at a certain reality but actually not present in that reality. It is like seeing oneself in the mirror. What we see in the mirror is not ourselves but a reflection of ourselves. This is where philosophy and science merge. We need to slow down in order to see every detail of our reflection. It is in the details and not on the whole. Covid has given us this chance to see the details of ourselves.
So, we need to listen to our bodies. It is in this that we could understand. Science taught us bio-rhythm while philosophy taught us synergy. These two realities would really teach us the art of listening. In listening, one has to open one’s heart and mind to the realities around. We need to accept reality by living in the present moment. We need to really hear the signs of the times and the needs of our neighbors. It is in our time of solitude or quarantine that we hear the voice of our inner self.
Enjoy listening.