A Stateless State of Mind
how Netflix made all the difference
When was the last time you hugged someone who didn’t live in your household? A random stranger or someone you finally got to see again after a long time.
Honestly, I don’t remember.
Over the past year, I’ve noticed a decline in my personal mental health, I used to work and study from home before the pandemic happened, so I thought it wouldn’t affect my personal life that much. Looking back to that statement I was utterly wrong. It has affected me in many ways and more than I’d like to admit sometimes.
But why? It started with all the news and the constant state of fear I experienced because people were dying from a virus. Would I be next? It didn’t help that the only headlines were about the coronavirus, did all the other news abruptly disappear? My world seemed very small suddenly and I didn’t know how to make it bigger again.
Poetry is something I love to write and I’m currently working on my first bundle. It took me years to finally acknowledge what I wanted to do and how. I went to a lot of different schools and many things got decided for me when I was growing up. Now I’m in a safe space to actually pursue what I want, but that also means life gets in the way sometimes.
It all happened when I was sitting in the car on my way to the dentist, I saw a Heron on a street lamp, I stared at it until it was out of my sight and thought to myself “how majestic” and “serene” to be a Heron overlooking the cars passing by with all these people inside with different stories and faces every day. It gave me enough hope to see that, I’m not alone in this because we’re all struggling with this as a society. But why does it feel so lonely? Probably because I was looking the wrong way. I shouldn’t refresh the news, but ask a friend, a random stranger how he/she or they are doing. Because we all have our own stories to tell about how this has affected us as a community.
“I do believe there are so many people lost in this world because of circumstances they didn’t choose”
But still, reaching out can be hard sometimes so it was easier for me to put on the television and browse through Netflix. I often watch the mini-series that have about six or ten episodes and the stories take you away into another time, another place. I decided I would watch “Stateless”. I had seen it pass me by a lot when I scrolled through all the different images and genres on the app but never got around watching it. I started this week and I never stopped because it took me in and I couldn’t leave these people with their stories behind. I learned it was based on true stories, and when I saw the end credits roll by I was absolutely gutted. There was no pandemic in this show but a fence, no disease but different cultures. All I could see when I watched it was human beings, treated like prisoners because they wanted to flee a war they never chose. I don’t know much about immigration centers or how things go nowadays, but I do believe there are so many people lost in this world because of circumstances they didn’t choose.
My world grew a little bigger after I watched it because I looked around my home and saw my two cats running about. I video called my Dad and talked about the television he wants to buy. I had that, I could just reach out to my family, friends and leave my house when I want to go for a hike or buy some groceries, without being watched. I feel so privileged because I was born in a country without poverty or war raging around.
Sometimes perspective can really change through the different lives you experience through films or books, but it can also be fleeting because we always move onto the next best thing. So ask yourself, what are the stories you want to keep? The inspiration or drive you want to hold onto? I struggled a lot with questions like; why me? But I decided to write anyways because we all have a voice that wants to be heard. After all, we’re all struggling with these questions at times. So how can we feel happier in a way when the world doesn’t seem it? You can start with writing one thing you’re grateful for today. Or drink that extra cup of tea with a warm blanket. Because even if the world is falling apart sometimes, you’re not falling alone.
So next time when you’re browsing Netflix and looking for something to watch? I’d recommend “Stateless” because it opens your eyes to the world and its vast majority of people that struggle for a place in it, we already found it in some way with nationality and country we can call home, while many others haven’t.
Let’s start by practicing awareness for others again instead of a virus that probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
