Coronavirus Blues !
Isolation! Quarantine! No-go Zones!
These are probably words that scare people, especially those who are not used to being alone, home-bound and unable to humour themselves.
While these measures can help keep one safe from coronavirus infection, they certainly won’t help those who have not learnt to enjoy their own company. Paranoia, boredom and even depression might quickly follow.
But there’s no reason to give in to any kind of negativity. People who take crises and misfortunes to create opportunities and breakthroughs become life’s winners.
Blues, depression, fear and such negative emotions are a creation of the mind. In many ways, a human being’s worst enemy is his own mind. So, when one becomes a victim of his own mind, he loses control over himself and his life. Unfortunately, most are unaware what they need to do and how to do what they need to do. In fact, many do not even want to do anything about it. And, there lies the problem.
When alone, undistracted by things, events, people, entertainment etc outside are dangerous times for minds that have not learnt to grapple with aloneness which is really a great gift, an opportunity to begin to understand and know oneself. Remember, the Maker made us from the inside out and not outside in. And, times when we are alone, we’re not really alone for those are occasions when we can meet our Maker here on earth, in our own homes or wherever we may be.
Let me share a poem here on the subject:
Depression and Self-Pity Destroyed
Depression is an outcome
She’s a daughter of a certain malaise
That’s known as an unwillingness to accept
That which life gives or displays.
When what we want and desire doesn’t come
And we refuse to accept that which does
The mind and ego throw a tantrum of sorts
And refuse to participate in life’s plays.
Self-pity is the energy that feeds depression
And that’s the energy that works full-time
As the mind latches on to a thought and emotion
And commits itself to a pathetic crime
What could be worse than killing oneself slowly
And strangling one’s spirit through self-pity
For that’s what happens when one’s depressed
As one sacrifices his talents and creativity.
If one begins to watch over his feelings and thoughts
As a spectator watches a game being played
And begins to see how his ego’s playing games
He’ll soon become a master not easily dismayed.
That’s what we need to do with our isolation, quarantine and times when we’re compelled to be on our own – become watchers of our minds, our emotions and slowly untangle the knots we may have tied ourselves in.
Meditation, breath-watching, breath-work (pranayama), reading books/articles that answer deeper questions, listening to good music, spending quality time with family and loved ones, yoga, exercising, getting fresh air and a lot of morning and evening sunshine, chanting, spending time on hobbies or creating/making something and so on will not merely keep us entertained but will help us grow in ways unimagined.
So, do not let this opportunity to be alone go waste. Use it to turn out a happier, better, wiser, more peaceful and creative version of you!
Rajesh Kanoi (rajyogi)
