Madness

author: Therese Dehesa

Imagine being caught in the eye of the storm, stranded with no source of food or running water, no electricity and no means of communication or contact with the outside world for one whole day. I guess you would also consider it as one of the longest days you’ll ever have the misfortune of experiencing. I would know, because I went through it myself just last Thursday, September 28 when Typhoon Milenyo hit our country. I found myself stuck in the dormitory with nothing to eat and nowhere to go, worried sick over my loved ones who I couldn’t even talk to or text since all our cell phones were dead.

To distract ourselves from the pangs of hunger in our stomach and to relieve ourselves from the boredom resulting from the lack of electricity (therefore loss of the computer, television and ultimately our mobile phones when the battery runs out and we can’t charge it anymore) as well as the concern that kept on growing at the back of our minds, my fellow dorm mates and I shared stories and sang songs to pass the time. The power shortage gave us the opportunity to realize that there are better alternatives to our modern choices.

Instead of impersonal text messaging, we actually had conversations with each other; we exchanged our usual habit of online chatting with real life bonding and we prayed as a community, perhaps even as a second family because we were not tempted to spend what little time we had for quality time in front of the television. Once these substitutes were dissolved or became out of the question, we began to acknowledge the importance, the need for genuine company and camaraderie which is simply irreplaceable.

The loss of electricity is not just a chance for us to strengthen the bond that we have with those around us, it is also somewhat of a humbling experience. When everything that we want is at the tips of our fingertips, we somehow feel high and mighty and we don’t recognize how absolutely lucky we are to have everything readily available at a convenient distance when we need it but when we see how helpless we are against whatever higher forces there are, God, Mother Nature or what have you, we are pushed off our pedestal and forced to get down on our knees and ask for redemption or for safety. I guess some might even go so far as to consider it a wake up call.

The literal meaning or connotation of that term is a deliberate message to rouse someone from sleep, slumber or another state of unconsciousness. For example, a long suffering mother gives her child a wake up call in the morning when the latter is reluctant to get up for school. I can see the similarity of this feat or action to how the higher forces heightened our sense of awareness in the midst of the storm, how they got our attention and forced us to rub the sleep of our eyes so we can look around and see how much we have taken our lives and the lives of those around you for granted and how much damage we have caused our environment.

I realized that the higher forces need not resort to drastic or desperate measures such as storms to make us appreciate everything that we have. We should always stop and smell the roses before the floods sweep them away so when it happens, we can deal better because we know that there are more important things left to be valued, like the music in the laughter of those we love and the priceless contentment that we are filled with in their presence.