Joy in the day-to-day

 As one grows older, one begins to get wisdom - or so they claim. I am just left with more unanswered questions and fewer definite answers. I write less, I exercise less, I play less, I eat less, I spend less on myself. The only thing that being an older adult and all that it entails have left me is more work. As a kid I thought that the adults have everything. But now I find that the opposite is true. Adults have a lot of work and responsibilities and very less enjoyment, true enjoyment, that we experienced as kids. I assume that once I become a true old lady - in my 60's maybe , If I live that long and retire from a full time job, I may have more time on my hands to do as I see fit, but I doubt it. By then, I would hopefully be a grandmother, and grandmothers have a lot of work too. But, I digress. 

Enjoyment in the small things: Are the longer lived years making us more jaded compared to kids where a lot of experiences are new? And with time, will we lose more of our joie de verve and be filled with ennui for life? Is this why some older people get religious- seeking God as a way to feel some joy? Also, Is this why  some older people get better at accepting the concept of death? Aaah, I'm so bored with this world, I might as well go?  

I am trying to understand joy and the pull this emotion has on us, to keep us tethered in this realm. I am trying to find a way to keep joy in my life and clearly failing miserably as a lot of things feel designed to pull me down. All I'm left with is weird pondering that goes nowhere. And then I get back to my chores. Aah, the humdrum of middle class life with middle class concerns, time tables to be followed, lunches to be packed and meetings that need attending and people who need to be called back. What would we do without you all?  

Why a believer must partner with a non-believer

 I was raised by a believer – full on faith in god- mother and a non-believer - an agnostic father. I believe that this has given me a balanced perspective. I am neither and I am both. I’m tempted by both belief systems. I am comforted by both and I think that both give me succor when I need it.

Let us be real for a minute- religion is not going anywhere. It has been around for thousands of years and all literature and propaganda from the communists and atheist movements notwithstanding, there is a reason that religions have endured in all parts of the world in different forms. When people believe in something together, it has more power. Would I believe something easily if others did not believe before me, along with me and the idea did not have enough power to make people believe after me? Humans seem to give more power to an idea when others think it’s a good idea. Call it the peril of being a social thinking animal. It’s the same thing with atheists. If the first atheist in any part of the world did not succeed in convincing the second person that his/her idea that there were no superior beings or Gods watching over them would their movement be so wide spread?

But coming back to the power of groupthink or group belief, religion offers people an out. A place of safety, where sins are forgiven, where fears are assuaged and there is a feel good factor when we place our burdens elsewhere – as in, at the feet of god and immediately there is a feeling of lightness. Religion has been called the opiate of the masses in the past. In today’s age, maybe God is the therapist of the masses. I mean, the sheer amount of money seeing a therapist regularly would cost. Clearly it’s cheaper to believe.  But, jokes aside, the point is that religion has value, however ephemeral it may be.

Meanwhile, the rational point of view- not believing anything that cannot be seen, heard or felt – as in God and the faith in a superior entity, gives us a comfort too, that we have only ourselves to depend on. That the universe is a random place where nothing is predictable and anything can happen anytime and hence now is the time to just live our lives.

I believe that having both perspectives and not being too attached to seeing God and religion in only one way is essential to stop having fanatical thoughts / ideologies of either kind. If every person out there decided to marry and tolerate a person who has the opposing viewpoint about religion, we would have no religion terrorism. Wouldn’t that be a great thing?