Recycle, declutter

It’s good for the environment and mental state

I grew up watching my mother repairing dresses with applique work, transforming old saris into skirts with beautiful laces and curtains and tattered clothes into kitchen towels. My father used to fix plastic buckets by stitching the broken pieces using thin metallic wire. He would turn domestic and garden waste into useful manure in the backyard pit. This mindful approach to maintenance kept our home and surroundings tidy.

The rise of disposable goods has led to excessive waste, calling for the need for effective recovery and cleaning. Decluttering not only improves the environment but also enhances the quality of life.

Clutter accumulates not only in our environment but also in our lives. In our mind, we accumulate a lot of clutter in the form of hatred, animosity, depression, and anxiety, which break us physically and mentally. Under the overwhelming weight of the world, we crumble like a cookie or collapse like a pack of cards. We yearn for brief moments of shining stars which raise our levels of happiness.

We have seen youth in their twenties and thirties dying due to poor mental health in the relentless pursuit of productivity and material wealth. The pressures of financial instability and fierce competition hinder the younger generation’s peace of mind, even as they maintain a façade of happiness. At home, issues such as violence and betrayal can shatter individuals. A life sculpted in the womb yearns to become an epic in the grave. This is similar to a raw material in an industry taking the shape of an elegant product at the end stage.

The initial and final states of any process exhibit least entropy. The in-between states display entropy changes during which useful work can be done. Between birth and death, life takes a turn for the good and the bad which are similar to entropy changes. When one chases the final destiny under pressure driven by material wealth and productivity persistently, the system collapses.

What is the panacea available? Can we travel back in time to fix our past mistakes and come back to the present unscathed? Are self-healing materials available to fix mental repairs? Can we swallow a pill to elevate the levels of happiness hormones? Can we find solace in a robot mate designed to fix our anxiety and depression?

To heal ourselves physically, we go to doctors. There is a saying, “Doctors heal the wounds and God heals them.” This is akin to the Japanese art of Kintsugi which is a way of fixing broken pottery. They glue the broken parts together and decorate them with precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum. The underlying principle is wabi sabi which looks at the beauty in imperfection. Similarly, friends and communities should support individuals by honouring their flaws, depressions and mental breakdowns with care, love, and kindness. Books, too, can provide solace, offering self-healing mantras to help mend our broken minds.

sheelaberchmans@gmail.com

Published - November 24, 2024 01:56 am IST