Am I Castaway?

While indulging in sweet fire red watermelon on a hot summer day and chatting with some friends about their new journey, I was content about experiencing friendship. Later, on my way back, I checked some WhatsApp statuses. Before doing so, I was thinking to myself, am I bored that I need to interact with something right there and then? I could have been doing something more productive with my time ? Oh well… Nevertheless, a friend shared in a video about how there is a service provider for lonely people in Japan. What in the world!?… is usually my first reaction before tackling anything. Apparently, the service is catered to anyone looking to overcome loneliness. Is that a dating app? No. Is that a meetup app? No. What is it then? It is an all-encompassing service. Example: John is a male in his sixties, his wife died a couple of years ago, and his kids are not around anymore. John misses family life, coming home from work and enjoying conversation at dinner with daughter and wife. He feels lonely so he reached out to the service provider to help him experience what he misses dearly. Now, the service provider has actors i.e. regular people like you and I that they train in the specific roles that are needed by the lonely individuals they are catering to. Therefore, after their training, these actors go to John’s house and perform the role of mother and daughter around dinner table. A couple of hours just to have a lovely conversation. Plain and simple!

Ah… the feeling of loneliness. Why is it felt? Are we lonely to begin with? While I am thinking of all this, there is a family of four sitting in front of me and all immersed into their electronic devices. Now, I am thinking who is not lonely?! Is loneliness in existence or is it a social construct i.e. absence of camaraderie? Why do we feel bored sometimes, which is equivalent to feeling lonely, despite the fact that we are surrounded by people around? Is there a void in our existence? Are we not created perfectly? Am I missing something in my existence is the biggest human question!

Well, to begin, what I am missing is to realize who I am. Socially, one can define themselves for example as a mother, daughter, wife, child, musician… Basically, you can put any kind of label on yourself. But does that help me define who I am for myself? I need a definition for myself that will satisfy me permanently as we all know that labels come and go. If I were left alone on a deserted island like Tom Hanks in the movie “Castaway”, then that would be my obvious condition away from all human distractions. How would I define myself? In an island away from civilization, would I have a different definition of myself? Definitely, Wilson (human face drawn on a ball) will be my go-to person for conversations ? Jokes aside, we should seriously be reflecting more on our human psyche to be able to make sense of what we truly are as human beings and why on earth are we given existence with endless potentialities for a short period of time?

“Indeed, we have created man on the most excellent of patterns, then we sent him to the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do good deeds.” Quran (95:4-6)
If I am created, then I must have a Creator who must answer all my human questions and provide me with the purpose of my existence.
We are all experiencing different stages in our lives from babyhood to adulthood where our potentialities are at their peak and then start declining if not cultivated properly.
What does all this point to? Feel free to refer to Chapter Read (Iqra) series here. https://ifw.ha-mim.org/tag/iqra-series/

What constitutes loneliness?

One can be in solitary confinement, an absence of social life. Things, objects, people around us, do they make up for not feeling lonely?! Think about this more seriously! Loneliness, perhaps a feeling of dissatisfaction within oneself. What do I attribute this feeling of loneliness to? To the cells in my body? Am I the product of my cells? Perhaps the brain or the heart? Hold on, these are just lumps of matter. What can it be? Amidst all this, we must admit that we have human needs. Our human needs go beyond the material aspect of this universe. We all want eternal satisfaction and happiness in our existence. Have we become people relying on things, objects, people (matter) to fulfill our human needs, hoping that matter will satisfy us eternally? And when everything dissipates, we are faced with the reality that nothing of this universe has the power to bring eternal happiness into existence. Can the qualities manifested in the matter fulfill our needs eternally? No. Things and people themselves are given these qualities and so how can they satisfy my human needs? Just like John, in the example realized that nothing in this universe has the quality to satisfy him eternally because our human needs desire eternal satisfaction and eternal happiness. Hence, the One who designed you and I must help satisfy this feeling. All we can do first is to acknowledge that the manufacturer of you and I is the One that is taking care of us at each moment and only that One can satisfy all human needs and desires. Isn’t it obvious that everything around us display the same message i.e. “I am in need to be given existence!” What does human mind infer from this?

All my experiences here will be transient no matter what I do.
Can death be the end to my existence? If yes, then one is free to end their life here and now. However, we all can easily conclude that there must be a reason to be given existence. What is it? Let us investigate, that is why we are endowed with endless human potentialities, they ought to be used to find out the purpose in one’s existence.

Let us take the example of the fly that is trying to sit on the watermelon that someone is about to eat. This person asks: “what does the fly have to do with me? Why is it in existence to annoy me? Stop sitting on my watermelon dude! It’s mine to eat and I prohibit you from infesting it with your dirty claws. Wait a minute, you got legs! You got wings to fly and big eyes! Wait let me check you out ? You are a created one, just like me, so we must both have the same Source of Existence to begin with. Let’s be friends but please do not approach this watermelon, it is mine to eat ? Go fly somewhere else and hope you will find your nourishment.” Now, someone is enjoying the watermelon and the fly is gone. And so, the question is, how cognizant are you of your existential journey to get to the destination? After all, no one is lonely, have some good company, at least a fly and watermelon to interact with?

O men! Here is a parable set forth; listen to it! Those on whom you call besides God cannot create [even] a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! And if the fly try to snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition! Quran (22:73)