What Does Detachment Got to do with Joy?

Only when you detach yourself from the thing you love can you really enjoy it. Sounds funny right?

In the early 90's there was show called “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata.” Nova Villa plays Donya Victorina who was so attached to her sofa set that it was all covered in plastic. Until the very last episode her sofa remained wrapped in plastic. It was funny watching how people tried to sit on the sofa and fall off because of the plastic cover. I think this is a good picture of getting too attached to the things of this world. Because she wanted to protect her sofa so bad nobody really got to enjoy it.

Sometimes we get too attached to the things of this world that we kind of miss the point why was it created or its purpose. Like the sofa, it was made so that the guest of Donya Victorina could sit comfortably. I don’t think even Nova Villa could have sat and remained there at the same time. The sofa was protected but was not enjoyed. Nobody was able to appreciate how good it felt to sit on it or its softness and the texture of its skin.

Detachment helps us to move back of from the thing we are attached to, and see it in a better view. When you look at a thing from a distance the more you can see its beauty. You can see the beauty of the mountain from a far more than when you are in it. From a far you can see its shapes and colors. How the trees give the mountain texture and how the mountain rise against the blue sky. You can also see how the sun lights the different surface of the mountain. You can only enjoy this kind of beauty from afar.

Here is another example. Let us say you are so addicted to food that you are always thinking what to eat. You are so attached or addicted to food that when you are eating, you are already thinking what to eat next. What happens? You fail to savor the food you are presently eating. Those who are detached with food are the ones who can actually enjoy the food itself. They are not rushing to consume it. They take their time savoring the different taste of what they are eating. They are there in the present moment enjoying what is in front of them.

Detachment was always been a Christian practice, especially for Catholics. It is sad that majority of us have abandoned it. Maybe that is why we don’t enjoy life as much as we should. We got caught up in our disoriented attachment to things that we desperately sought them and fail to enjoy them.

We have stuffed ourselves with stuffs and now we are choking.

You want to enjoy the things of this world? Step back from it and then you will enjoy them for what they where made for. Things of this world are God’s blessing to us and not God. They are not ends but means. Means to love God and our neighbor. Only when we put the things of this world in their proper order can we really start to enjoy them.

-daxx