To Be or Not To Be

A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
~ Louisa May Alcott

...that more or less describes my situation!

~A Wise Man Said~

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
~ Aristotle
Thursday, October 17, 2019
 
Those of you who follow this blog religiously (let me assume there are a few ;)) might be wondering what happened to my housemate situation. Well, as the great bard said, all’s well that ends well!

I was afraid that I would have to make adjustments to my beloved routines and ways of living but I believe I have struck gold because not only am I able to stick with all my routines and ways in this new arrangement (all thanks to the very accommodating and respectful housemates!), I also have the added benefit of interaction and conversation. Out of all my housemates (2 British and 1 Chinese) I happen to have the most interactions with my Chinese housemate who is a very young girl finding her feet in a new university in a new country while learning the culture and language on the go. I have a feeling that my exchanges with her particularly about cultural matters are going to be a source of reflection on this blog :)
It’s funny how when I was living in solitude, I enjoyed its many aspects, and now when I am living among people, it hasn’t taken me much time at all to look forward to the human aspects. I generally tend to sit in the lounge attached to the kitchen while my housemates all prefer to be in their own rooms most of the time (didn’t I say I get to preserve my routines? ;)). The Chinese housemate usually spends some time in the lounge/kitchen making dinner in the evening after getting back from the university, where I am invariably ensconced and up for a chat. Last week I happened to have a rather busy day and decided to take a nap in my room till late in the evening. When I popped out finally, the Chinese housemate greeted me exuberantly and told me that when she didn’t find me sitting in the familiar place when she got back she felt that “something was missing in her life” (her rather quaint way of expression struck me as a cultural influence but not the less charming for that!). I have to admit that I felt quite touched... this emotional element is something that never fails to draw me out… it was lying a bit dormant in my solitude and I see it now coming to the fore a lot more :)

posted by Sylvia D'souza at 12:11 am 0 comments
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