Hi there, wholesome reader!
A lot of things have happened in the past months; from surviving a heartbreak to adjusting to a new workplace — everything seemed to be stressing me out. So, one day, I decided to take a break from everything and spend some alone time to clear off my mind and to “re-charge” my energy.
I am a big believer and an advocate for self-love. I strongly agree that you can’t pour from an empty cup. For me, it is important to take care and love yourself first before you can love others. And for me, one great act of self-love is spending time alone every once in a while, or when needed to.
I have heard, too many times, from some people I know, the lines “I don’t enjoy going out alone” or “I easily get bored when I’m alone”; I am completely the opposite. Although I’m not judging those people, it’s just that I love spending time with myself, maybe because that is the time I get to enjoy doing things that I love, like writing, painting, and reading books without any distractions from other people. But don’t get me wrong, I also love having some company around me. There are just times when I feel the need to be just with my own company.
Anyway, moving onto this post, let me share where I went to to spend some time alone and what I did during that day.
It was a holiday, which fell on a Wednesday, in the city where I currently work in. Since I am now living in the city, it would be impractical to go home in the province and spend only a day there and then go back to the city again. So, I decided to just spend the day in the city.
I already planned out my day ahead of time, as that’s how I really am: the planning freak. I left my apartment at around 10:30am and by 11am, I was already sitting inside one of the banks in IT Park, as I was planning to do some errands. The line in the bank was short, thus, I finished my transaction in no time.
It was already about lunch time and I did not eat breakfast yet, so I decided to enjoy a sumptuous meal as my brunch. It was not that luxurious, really, but it was one of my favorites! After I ate brunch, I strolled around Ayala Central Bloc and then, I went to a waxing salon to get my eyebrows shaped and threaded.
I was able to finish all the things I planned for that day at around 1:30pm. So, I thought, it's time to find a coffee shop where I can peacefully read my book. I looked around and, viola! It wasn't a coffee shop but a dessert place.
There's a coffee shop that's my usual hangout-with-myself place but in an attempt to try something new, I decided to try the desserts at Elim Central. Honestly, what really made me go inside the cafe was the cute interior. And since the place wasn't as packed as Starbucks Reserve, it was perfect for my book reading activity.
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
A friend recommended for me to read this philosophical book titled On the Shortness of Life by Seneca. This was the book which I planned to read that day.
To be honest, this one was so hard to read. The book only has less than a hundred pages but it took me at least two weeks to read. And also, I am not into philosophical books so maybe that's another reason.
Although it was a tough read, I was able to list a few quotes from the book that made me think so deeply and reflect upon them. Here are two of them and my thoughts about them.
So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.
Contrary to the saying "life is short", the author argues that our lives have the sufficient amount of time. However, we are the ones who are shortening it by spending it on things that don't matter, such as people’s vices.
But what are the things that actually matter in this life? The author is vague about this topic in the book, which leaves the reader to ponder on his life and identify the things that are important to him. Personally, I haven't totally figured out mine yet, but I trust the timing of my existence. And that in time, these things will be clearly known to me.
Another quote that struck me from the book is something about grief.
For to be afflicted with endless sorrow at the loss of someone very dear is foolish self-indulgence, and to feel none is inhuman callousness. The best compromise between love and good sense is both to feel longing and to conquer it.
My own interpretation of this is that when we are faced with emotional suffering, we must not avoid it or try to find a solution. This is what we commonly do: run away from our "negative" emotions. But, these emotions are part of being human. Instead, we must acknowledge them and carry them along as life goes on and as we move towards our pursuits in life.
To end this post, I would like to drop another quote from the book and let you ponder on it.
It takes the whole of life to learn how to live, and -what will perhaps make you wonder more - it takes the whole of life to learn how to die.
Your thoughts and opinions are welcome in my comments section below. I'd be glad to read them 😊
Thank you for reading my post up to this point. I hope you have a great time ahead!
I'll take delight in writing for you again soon.
Love,
Sam ♡
Hello, in case you have not read my intro post, my name is Samantha. You may call me Sam for short. I am from Cebu, a beautiful island in the Philippines. I created this space in an attempt to put all the good things in one place, thus, my blog name @wholesamdiaries.
If you wish to show appreciation; an upvote, comment, reblog and/or follow is the way! Thank you once again and see you around! ♡