The Joys of Nothing-ness.

"Wala lang."  How many times have you heard or read the phrase from your friends' lips or email- headings when they call or write?

Stevie Wonder said it, too, in his famous song " I Just Called to Say I Love You."  

"Wala lang," is akin to saying "Out of the blue."  It's like telling, "really, there's no special reason for my call, email or visit.  I just want to connect."

Many times in our lives, we do things for no special reason.  That's why there are hobbies that we take up or do.  Hobbies are meant to distract us from boredom or nothing-ness.  

But I discovered lately the joys of nothing-ness.

Ever since I decided to make permanent my semi-retirement, and not feel guilty about it, I began to understand the meaning of "second happiness."

From the day I graduated from post secondary in the Philippines up until the last day of work in Toronto, I was programmed to do one thing: wake up early in the morning and go to work. If I was out of work, which happened when the firm I worked for closed down after Ninoy Aquino was gunned down and I had to migrate to the U.S., then I would be waking up early in the morning and worrying when I would work next. 

When we started going to school, our parents and mentors always told us, study well so you could get a good job. So early on in our lives, the economics of existence had been drilled into our consciousness.  There was no escaping it.

Is it any wonder then that children grow up now believing that money is everything that matters in life? And with this mindset, they go raving about high-paying but boring call centre jobs, or government posts wherein they can earn big bucks on the side?

Is it any wonder then that in both private and public sectors, corruption is now a given?  Wala lang, kailangan, eh. 

That's why appreciating nothing-ness is a subject matter that we should be teaching our children. Because from nothing-ness, we can bring about something else. Like doing things that one can fully enjoy.

I used to think that I could be a pilot. But back then, we didn't have the army motto like "Be the best that you can be." So we followed what our parents wanted us to be. How about telling our kids just to be happy.

Nothing-ness. Like waking up in the morning and smelling the flowers in the garden. Or waiting for the birds to show up and listening to their chirp and song.  Enjoying a fresh cup of brewed coffee until it becomes a mere drop.  Or gazing out the window and following the circling of the butterflies.  Listening to the sound of the creek at the back of your house.  Even just feeling the wisp of air in your face.

The Central Park in Manhattan is an oasis in the city-nerve that is New York City.  It has been featured in countless films and novels.  Even in Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, frequented it with his sis, Phoebe. The Park, even today, is frequented by people who want to do nothing; but just to breathe the air, enjoy the sun, look at others, and pass time. 

Nothing-ness.  It is pure joy.