One summer, my family and I traveled to El Nido, Palawan. I was a second-grader and still very much loved the outdoors, as kids were naturally inclined to back then. We only spent three days there, in a lovely hut standing peacefully over the blue, with the marina just a couple of seconds away, but they were easily three of the most memorable days of my life. There is nothing like the feeling of floating in saltwater for hours on end, watching marine creatures flitter about, and then, as you retire for the night, looking through a bedside window at the infinite pinpricks of light on a provincial sky.
I still think this world is too busy. Society has come to value speed so much, relentlessly moving as fast as possible to ensure that no second is wasted. I have to ask, what does society define as wasted? It seems to me that the simple, slower joys are pushed aside these days in favor of endless work and practical socialization. Well-liked individuals who get a lot done are among the most recognized and praised in their environments. Meanwhile, those who enjoy solitude, reflection, and slowness are given shakes of the head and urged to move faster.
This might all be strange to hear from me, since I think that I could be considered a fairly sociable and hardworking person. The truth is that this isn't really fulfilling me, though. I can't help but think that if I had a little more courage and if the world were a little more forgiving, I would've led a very quiet life in reflection and solitude. I might be a tad too idealistic, but where have humans ever gone without ideals in their lives?
I know that it should also be taken into consideration that humans are highly sociable beings. Yes, we have thrived thus far because we cooperate for progress. But see, is progress all it's cracked up to be? We get our new iPhones and laptops and cars and SLRs and enormous smart TVs, but if you think about it, aren't we just creating complex atrocities in order to manage even more complex atrocities, a.k.a. our lives? What are we satisfying besides our boundless desires for more and more and more? Maybe I'm just a Taoist at heart, but when we realize that true happiness doesn't come from desires, everything will start to make much more sense.
I'm not claiming to have found the secret yet. I haven't gone through enlightenment, but any idiot can see that we'd be perfectly content if we just knew how to keep all this hunger at bay. If thinking highly of advancement weren't such a poisonous social norm, we could all mostly be just farmers or fishermen who do their work in the morning and spend the rest of the day quietly. There is such a sublime inner peace in taking the time to enjoy the wonders of the world.