Fighting Nostalgia

It’s been more than a week now since the last time I blogged. I was interrupted by some social events in the workplace and by some activities at home. I also noticed that I easily get tired lately that I felt the need breathe out and rest so I was asleep most of the time.  And during my spare time, I can’t help but to watch television these past few days, and it seems to be that it is becoming a part of my routine before I get to bed or after coming from work. That could be a sign of homesickness, a separation anxiety that anyone who’s away from home has to deal with. The enemy that I have to fight against and the most anticipated dilemma of longing to be with the people I love.

Though, the feeling of nostalgia seems to be on the air, I can't go astray so I need to withstand against it. I am trying to keep myself busy after sleeping long hours just to divert my attention. Aside from hanging out across the cyber space to do some networking from the social media and aside from playing with the different online media platforms across the web, the “The Filipino Channel” or “TFC” seems to be working out and a simple way to reach out.  Just by watching this community channel, it actually minimized the feeling of being far away from home. I even tend to become more updated on what’s going on our national television be it news updates, documentaries or some television series.

I would not deny and be ashamed that nowadays I am becoming fond watching the different telenovelas like “Minsan Lang Kita IIbigin,”  and “Guns and Roses,” to name a few. I am even watching “The Biggest Loser” up to “Krusada,” and “Patrol ng Pilipino.”  I was never fond watching any teleserye when I was still in the Philippines. I would rather watch some documentaries, some segments of Boy Abunda like “The Bottomline," or even watch "Storyline" but not telenovelas but I started to learn watching it after coming here in Saudi Arabia because somehow, it makes me feel like I am home.

Some of my colleagues just arrived from the Philippines. Two of them are actually my closed friends and I know how they are feeling at the moment, especially at those moments when they were still seated while the plane was on the air flying on the way here or while they were waiting to reach the land of their destination. I know how it feels like going back to work again after coming from a long vacation trip. And this is actually the worst feeling ever which is usually being experienced by the overseas workers.

Most of the overseas workers would spend some few days trying to get away from the crowd after coming from land of origin. The thoughts of wanting to go back home would linger and there would be crying moments from which they can’t help but to embrace the feeling of loneliness. That is natural but as overseas workers we have to deal with it and we can’t let ourselves dwell with it for a long time. We can’t let ourselves get too much affected by what we feel.

To surmount such anxiety and such feeling of wistfulness, the need to express or verbalized feelings is really necessary to lessen all the burdens. And this is one thing that is much more advisable rather than just to keep it to one self. It’s not a sign of weakness to let others see us cry or let them know that we cried. It is just one way or another to make us feel and express ourselves that we are also humans. And for us to gain strength, sometime we have to let go of those negative feelings.

Though we left our country to work, we also have to remember once in awhile that we are also human and life is not for work alone. Sometimes, we need to cry, that's alright, but most of the times we need to smile and feel good and happy about ourselves because all these serve as fuels in order for us to get stronger and even tougher to face all the daily battles away from home.

These are different ways to fight against the feeling of nostalgia and the above mentioned are just the few things we can ride on in order to deal with it. The role of friends as our immediate support system would always be on top of the lists and it is advisable to connect and to meet people whom we can get along with and whom we can trust. We can always go out and hang out with them, and they are the ultimate shock absorbers  whom we can rely on and whom we can always talk to. Their significance will always be experienced and appreciated especially in times like this.

Though melancholia inevitably comes along the way, we have to go against it. We have to let go and never embrace it for long time. Neither anxiety nor depression can rule our lives. We have to get over with it and move forward. Life is so short to dwell with it.

Image Source: http://thepleat.com/

Written By|Azeweht
 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Philippines License. 

Categories: homesick , melancholia , nostalgia , Philippines , work