Roy Tang

It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the stimuli that the modern world provides us. There’s a seemingly endless stream of problems to be overcome, bad news to be angry about, movies to watch, tv shows to binge, games to play, books to read, pictures to share, gossip to be had, new things to learn, challenges to be faced, and so on. And with all of these comes the pressure to make the most of your time, to make sure it isn’t “wasted”.

In between all of these, it’s important that we don’t forget to give ourselves space for rest. Collapsing into bed at the end of a tiring day is rest for the body, but we need rest for the conscious mind as well. Space for our mind to wander. Space for background thoughts to percolate. Space for the conscious mind to step aside and let the unconscious process everything the world throws down upon us.

During the decade and change that I was working a regular nine-to-five, that downtime often came during the otherwise torturous Metro Manila commute. These days, I have a lot more free time at home, but even that free time tends to be consumed by reading or some kind of electronic activity - a temptation often difficult to resist. So most days I find that space during my daily walking. Sometimes I’ll miss the daily walk for a day or maybe two in a row (most often due to weather), and I’ll feel a bit restless or out of sorts. The space that walking gives me some time to myself where I let the problems of the world simply wash over me.

Find time to make your own spaces in between as well.