Our Wondrous Oasis
After a few days of moving our things, we decided to put the single armchair from our old place in the living room, because sitting in it is wonderfully comfortable. I can sit there for hours with a book and a fragrant cup of tea.
One of the reasons we love decorating our home is that we genuinely spend a great deal of time just staying in. Heaven cleverly paired two people who dislike the hustle and bustle. We love going out, but only to quiet places; we love gatherings, but only with kindred spirits. Every time we go somewhere crowded, we come back exhausted, and returning home feels like recharging, back to our most harmonious selves.
I remember someone once asking me whether two people who suit each other so well, always comfortable in their own oasis, might be left behind by the world. I think that depends on each person’s choices and outlook. It is hard to say who is really the one “left behind”, and the word “left” may not even be right. I understood what they meant: does living in your own world make you outdated, finding it ever harder to keep up with the pace beyond your front door? In the first case, both people withdraw and pay no attention at all to the world around them – clearly they are creating a different world of their own. In the second case, they keep to themselves yet still care about the outside world, which means they are bringing the whole outside world into their shelter.
Does the world leave us behind, or do we leave the world behind? Someone outside a relationship might see a couple as “left behind by the world”, but perhaps those inside don’t feel that way at all – they have chosen to “leave the world behind”. Apart or together – which is better? Only the person who actively makes the choice holds the true answer. If we judge someone as “outdated” or “keeping up with the times”, we are clearly squeezing all our judgments into one mould.
So however each person likes to live, let them live that way. If two people want to shut the door, stay in and build a world in their own wondrous oasis, what is wrong with that! There is no reason for disapproval, worry, blame, criticism or suspicion. In any case, home is always an utterly comfortable refuge that deserves to be cherished. However far people travel out into the world, there comes a time when they want to come home. We just get home before them.
