How to Stay Sane in This Pandemic? (Part two)

Boredom is the root of all evil. -Søren Kierkegaard

As I quoted from Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, who was widely considered as the father of existentialism. He explained about the philosophy of boredom in His masterwork book (Either/Or: a Fragment of Life) and define it as a “sense of emptiness”; “an absence of meaning”.

Maybe boredom is kinda right term to potray most of people’s feelings nowadays. With this social distancing, work from home and stay at home situation, people start to think that they are “stuck” at home for a longgg time and therefore, feel bored. How dreadful boredom is?!

But, wait! Back to what was on your mind. You thought you stuck at home, then you feel bored. How about you think about gratefulness of being at home? How do you feel afterward?

One of the key to stay sane at home is make your home a paradise, just like your favorite place. Thay way, you may not feel stuck. You just wanna go nowhere than home!

But, how? As simply as “DO WHAT YOU LOVE at home”.

You can start by making a list of your favorite things to do (at least five, but you can list it more as you wish), your favorite place (coffee shop, beach, bar, etc), and favorite music. Then, make a list of your must do list (work, meeting, house chores, take care of children, etc) and new things you want to try (“coz we have so much time to try it now), followed by conclusion, as the example table below.

Try to do your “must list” first as much as possible, then your fave things or things you wanna try consecutively. Actually you can make your favorite place at home, virtually.

Here is the example of virtual beach I can make at home, by searching “beach scene” or “beach wave” on youtube. I can choose the model of beach I like, the sound of waves and also the chirping bird. I play the jazz playlist in my speaker and read. What a lovely afternoon.

If you repeteadly do the same thing over again, it may seems monotonous. That’s why you need to list at most. You can conclude randomly and do your conclusion alternately. Of course challenge yourself to try your new things in order to be varied. New things also enticing and enhance your mood by it’s depth of desire to realize it and the excitement of such an achievement. Thank universe for giving you such an opportunity and a plenty of time to try new things you haven’t attempt so far! Every cloud has a silver lining, right?

After all the effort you made so far, you might still face boredom… Back to it’s definition viz. an emptiness of meaning, have you give your life a meaning? Are you aware of your purpose in life?