Air travel for humans is akin to hibernation in animals. You, in your body, mind and spirit, condition yourself to adapt to every new surrounding you come to visit. When in flight, it’s like a subconscious internal play at work as our body tries to camouflage with the changing conditions. Contained in the massively speeding space capsules looking far beyond day & night in its open-air trajectory, at some level, one must feel the centrifugal pressure gurgling into their systems.
As static as the scene looks outside, as chaotic, it gets on the inside. You’re frozen in time because there’s so little to see and process prompting you to rather just doze off. But delving in that delicate thread of nothingness, you’re bound to discover the profoundness of life. Being up above your daily grind, you take a moment to introspect and mull over your life not as you know it but as it is!
Staring outside into nothingness, one is unlikely to spot mind-stimulating Instagram feeds, sensory rewarding imagery, or the dynamic, microcosmic smorgasbord of human existence. It’s just you, the clouds, gushing wind you cant sense and the changing palettes of the sky. In that sense, air travel is like sharing the planet’s loneliness together.
So next time you’re up in the air, do not open your laptop to finish that movie. Do not dig into the pages of a self-help book. No crosswords, small talks, excel sheets and photography stunts. Instead, sit back and let the stretched, lagged time consume your mind. Idleness today is a worthy privilege to have; make the most of it.
