#44 Finding My Way Back Home

Finding my way back home comes with a bittersweet taste, as I fear what I have found.

Comfort vs True Belonging

Homer's timeless epic poem, The Odyssey, has captivated generations. The ancient story deeply touched me and made me realize that finding my way back home is more complicated than I thought. 

Odysseus and The Lotus Eaters

Blown off course by a storm, Odysseus and his men land on an island with the Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Fruit had narcotic properties, and those who ate it fell into peaceful apathy. 

After the men ate the Lotus, they forgot about home and their loved ones and instead longed to stay with the Lotus Eaters.

Realizing the danger, Odysseus forcefully brings his weeping sailors back to the ship and binds them to the oars to escape.

Figuratively speaking: I've been there. And I'm sure you have too. 

A few glasses of wine make you forget how dreadful the party is. The pressure and stress of the day seem to evaporate after the first sip of your after-work drink. Anxiously awake in bed, but one Unisom gently embraces you as you drift into sleep. 

Modern Living 

Returning from a recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, one thing is very clear to me: No human being truly belongs in a city.

In cities, life happens indoors, in climate-controlled boxes. Under artificial light, walking in shoes on concrete, disconnected from the earth, disconnected from nature.

No one can convince me that this is healthy. 

No one can convince me that this is where humans belong.

However, I understand it.

People live in cities because of their jobs, their partners' jobs, or for the sake of their children's education.

Career opportunities, trendy bars, top restaurants, and a vibrant nightlife make you forget, and you end up staying.

You become a Lotus Eater. 

I'm a Lotus Eater Too 

A recent trip to a remote part of Indonesia, where there are no commercial supermarkets, limited food supplies, and unstable electricity, with cell service and Wi-Fi often unavailable, made me realize how much I enjoy the sweet nectar of modern life on the Island of Gods.

I'm a Lotus Eater too.

And yet, I fear that the very things I fled from in the Western world will soon catch up with me in a Westernised Bali.

Comfort vs. True Belonging

One could argue that Odysseus's men deserved a taste of a peaceful state after their victory in the ten-year war in Troy, right? And the same could be said about modern tycoons and their keyboard warriors. They, too, deserve some comforting time.

However, we should never let the Lotus play tricks on us, and we should never forget that peaceful apathy is not where we ought to be. Comfort must never make us forget what is dear to us. Comfort must never prevent us from finding our way.

I’m wondering whether comfort has become an obstacle to finding my way back home. 

Do I want this, or do I want an unlimited food supply?

And what about you, dear reader? 

If you have made it this far and are still reading, maybe it’s a sign that it is time for you too to embrace the discomfort, step outside your comfort zone, and find your way to true belonging over comfort.