HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE By Jim Paredes (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 3, 2013 – 12:00am

As a human living in the most modern of times, I am amazed at how much freedom and material comfort there is to enjoy. I am speaking as a person who has visited parts of the world like the US, Japan, Australia, etc. This even applies to the Philippines but perhaps to a lesser degree. Aside from the usual democratic space and convenient lifestyle, there is so much information and technology we have access to that opens to us an ever-expanding freedom of choice about what to buy, do and how to live our lives.

But even as I type this and search the Net and listen to music, watch TV and eat a sandwich all at the same time, I can’t help but think of how much the whole set up can also be oppressive to the human spirit. No, I am not just being a whiner or a spoiled brat.

Just take a look around you. In a way, we are all prisoners of comfort and convenience. We are dependent on our gadgets. We are like our own appliances and computers that can only function when connected to the grid of modern life. More and more, we live bigger chunks of our lives online. We are also tied to schedules, deadlines, mortgages, debts, routines and all the new social obligations brought about by modernity.

While the times we live in has undoubtedly seen great strides forward in the areas of human freedoms and liberation from hunger, ignorance and poverty, it has also created new “prisons” for us to languish in.

Let’s examine two of the contemporary social and psychological templates we are subscribed to as individuals and societies. These determine how we see and act in the world. Let’s ask ourselves if we are happier, more integrated people with these new values and if we are creating and building more inclusive communities.

Take a look at modern societies’ view of aging. Many of them see people getting old as a problem. I detect a cultural pathology here. Perhaps because of our cult of youth, we see people who move further and further away from what we think youth is, to be less productive, less functional members of society. More and more, they are seen as a burden on the social safety nets and a drain on the incomes of those responsible for them.

The elderly in Australia, the US, etc. suffer the pain of abandonment and alienation of being put to pasture in an old folks home. I know this is a real dilemma for a lot of people. As much as some would like to keep their parents with them, the society is structured as such to make it almost impossible to do. Where generations should be more connected, modern societies choose to alienate the young from the elderly. Could this be an offshoot of rugged individualism gone crazy? A utilitarian, throwaway materialistic culture where we get rid of or set aside what cannot be fixed, retooled or upgraded?

Contrast this to how the elderly are treated in less modern societies. The aged are part of the family/community and are generally seen to have earned their respected place. They are looked at with affection for being the younger generations’ link to their family heritage and life itself. And mainly because they have survived long enough, they are presumed to be repositories of some wisdom. And yes, they mostly live with their families.

Sometimes, I feel that the less modern societies have a more holistic view of life. It might be because they are more in touch with nature. They still witness and participate in its seasonal changes and cycles, from sowing to reaping of harvests, birth to decay, youth to adulthood, sickness to death—all in a more intimate family or communal setting.

Another thing that moderns need to address is the constant bombardment of commercialism and materialism. I have talked with a lot of young people who have consciously chosen the pursuit of money over passion and what they consider as more meaningful endeavors in life. In my time, most young people chose the latter hands down. It seems that money itself has become the meaning of life for many. This I find really unsettling. But at the same time, it is inevitable that many think this way.

The cult of money and materialism in modern life is so strong that very few can resist it. The never-ending quest to have the newest, latest, fastest, most modern, highest versions, upgrades of toys, goods and products has become an epidemic. The cycle and speed of technology seems to double every few years causing an ever faster cycle of consumption.

The flash and glitz of materialism has captured the hearts and souls of many people. Instant gratification is the mantra of the age. The modern view of living is to experience everything before one gets old. To be modern is the fashion and the passion. And one needs money to live fashionably and passionately with the times.

And yet the more important things in life demand from us a patience, a quietude, and a lot of internal sorting out to be able to live sanely and humanely in a shallow, noisy, and soul-killing world. At times, one must be able to dis-identify and disengage with the world and transcend the call of the life of comfort, style and conformity. We need to see through the illusion of the emptiness materialism brings and be alive to life’s other gifts. There is more to life than endless acquisition.

Many years ago, I had a conversation with a fast rising star in a dressing room of a television station. After I congratulated him for his many successes, we got out of the usual showbiz topics and talked more deeply about life. I asked him if he was happy. He was perplexed and did not know how to answer. He paused for a while and merely said, “I am supposed to be happy because I have all this fame and money. After all, everybody wants these.”

To win this battle for our hearts and souls, we must look at each other beyond the functions or labels that the world has given us. We are more than consumers, users, customers, clients, followers in a market of endlessly enticing goods, gadgets and services. We are humans who have dreams, ambitions, passions and yearnings that the pixie dust of the world cannot fulfill.

To fulfill them, we must learn to accept the pain and wisdom to love, to struggle, to attach and detach, sacrifice and surrender, and to see the difference between the kicks that go with the novelty of something worldly, and the profound joy that goes with the free but enduring spiritual gifts in life.

I have often caught myself defying the world. I chose passion over money in the pursuit of my career. I have occasionally stood against the sometimes coercive call of political correctness and its conventions and social expectations. I have turned down many things that I knew could be beneficial materially but would not have served my spirit and those I love.

No, we are not being asked to abandon all things material and walk the desert. It is not a denial of the world but a balance that must be attained. We live in the world and enjoy its gifts but we must keep it a sustainable place for everyone. This demands an amount of spirituality. No to runaway materialism. We already know where that has brought us to.

We must heed the call of a spirituality that can help us look at the world and ourselves in a more holistic manner. And this means going way beyond the mere materially beneficial relationships we can exploit. We need more of the human, spiritual connectedness that binds us together.

This is what will make us free.