What's your poison? Finding some stress relief

What's your poison? Finding some stress relief

Aida Greenbury, Contributor, Jakarta

Living in this decrepit metropolitan city can be really
depressing. What's new, right? Face it -- it's hard to follow
grandma's advice to always think positive and always make sure to
be surrounded by positive energy in this place.

I wake up every morning, with my throat and nose full of weird
stuff I inhale from the air conditioner in my bedroom, which is
on maximum strength every night or else I would be covered in a
layer of unhealthy gooey sweat. Don't dare suggest opening the
window to breathe in the "fresh" air while I am sleeping: I would
end up looking slightly blue when I wake up in the morning, if I
wake up, that is.

Then I climb in the bathtub to soak my body in the yellowish
water, a questionable mix of rust and other deposits seeping from
the half-blocked shower holes.

After my rejuvenating regime, piles of work usually greet me,
which would be quite OK if there was actually real work to be
done. Which means that I would be actually making a bit of money
instead of wasting the cheerful morning like most of the time.

The good old socializing method, where people actually meet
and talk face to face, sounds like a crime now when e-mails,
video calls and SMS have the same functions, minus the hassle of
a dehydrated mouth due to the act of plastering a friendly though
usually false smile on my face, the traffic jammed trips and, God
forbid, physical touching and friendly gestures! They are so last
century.

Work, no healthy socializing, awful air and woeful water
quality, traffic jams: Don't have to be an Einstein to figure out
that the MC2 is a highly stressful lifestyle. I also realize that
I would end up looking scarier than a stuffed Keith Richard if I
do not do anything about it. Release me, my precious.

What do I do? What should you do to release the stress? Please
don't give me that snobbish spiel of "Oh, I'm fine here, life is
beautiful, I'm enjoying it, care for a cup of tea, dear?"

When I think about it, there are handfuls of stress release
activities in this city. There are the beaches, golf courses,
movie theaters, hundreds of interesting hobbies. Did I mention
the wonderful beaches? There is Ancol in North Jakarta, for
example, with its finicky dress code found nowhere else in the
world. The beach's visitors are urged to wear blue jeans, T-
shirts and/or black leather jackets.

Don't try to sunbathe there in your latest D&G bikini unless
you want to be gawked at by drooling males, snotty kids, mutant
seagulls and God knows what else. The stretch of Anyer and its
little beach minions to the west of the city are also quite
amusing. However, you cannot really snorkel there, because your
underwater visibility is less than five meters and there is
nothing to see except the long waste pipe from the nearby
industrial complex.

For good-hearted humble people, charity is often the chosen
stress-release activity. Now, that does not include the noble act
of giving cash to the police officers when you are pulled over on
the street for not being able to read the traffic regulations
written in tiny font on the street sign while not speeding (who
can speed on Jakarta streets anyway?).

Taking young jockeys for a three-in-one ride and giving them
a few thousand rupiah is also classified as a charity act by
some, as in improving the welfare of street children in Jakarta.
And for the aged and depressed? Well, they can always play golf
to relieve the burdens of life.

For my personal stress relief, I chose to make a marine
aquarium a hobby. Ages ago, my biology teacher told me: "If you
can't watch marine animals in their original habitat, you can
always set up your own marine habitat in an aquarium in your
home!"

So I did just that. I have a marine aquarium at home. It's got
about a dozen fish that look a bit out of place living in a glass
box, adorned with colorful live corals. But now I can happily say
that I can maintain my sanity amid the assault of daily stress,
plus giving job opportunities for those people who earn a bit of
money from chipping away the precious coral reef, fighting
against the wild tropical current to survive while probably
inadvertently poisoning themselves with cyanide while they are
trying to tranquilize the fish at the bottom of the ocean.

It's the balance between the stress and the release that you
need folks. After all, to live and earn money in this colorful
city, one pays one's dues.