On taking a break from things or feeling like not being ‘productive’
Something I wrote to a person weary of social pressures, but I think it can apply to anyone in any situation. “In the Javanese culture, there's a thing called being prihatin. There's no English word for it, maybe, like 'resting' or 'grieving'. But basically it's when times are hard, one tries to live simply--not just in terms of material stuff. Being prihatin is usually thought of as a sign of humility, not pampering oneself with the usual luxuries (again, not always material pampering) as it is a time to contemplate. In harder times, one knows that if one were to rise up or come forward, it would be easy to fall down or thrown down. Perhaps now is not the time to fight. Sometimes it is itching--having the means that are needed for the fight or protecting the ones that need to be protected but we are unable to use our means as we wished. As we grow wiser, we will realize that we must have ikhlas (again, no word for that, maybe 'letting go' and 'accepting') that sometimes hard times may have no intrinsic goal or meaningful end. Like weather-beaten villagers that know the oncoming of a long dry season, many believe that this is a test from god to test one's faith, but in reality, hard times may have no intrinsic meaning at all--they are just hard. But, we can still give our own meaning to it, huh? Gaining control or accountability over it, any meaning at all. In the end we all want things to be meaningful, that every sorrow must have a 'silver lining' (hate that phrase). Without external stimulus and incentive to act, it's easy for consciousness to lump into conformism, where we may not be aware as we were to all the issues and what lies behind them--to become apathetic, in other words. But sometimes this is an opportunity for us to hone ourselves further outside of the battle ring. It's good if one is woke, one understands, one can move with the movements, but when we are isolated from the tumultuous cacophony, the biggest challenge is to keep the candle lit...to do nothing. Though it's our own candle, our own consciousness, it's not an easy feat sometimes.”
