Our society has evolved (if you can call it evolution) far, far faster than our bodies and minds have. The last 20 years we have gone from using telephones attached to wall, to using phones that can do everything for us short of wiping our asses or cooking a meal. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an app for that in the works. Texting has made us even less able to deal with life. Since when have we become so unable to simply talk to one another? And I’m not referring to times when it’s appropriate or more efficient. Texting and email can be incredible time saving tools. What I’m talking about are the times when you’re laying in bed, or sitting on your couch IMing or texting someone that you could JUST as easily be taking to. What is going on with people that we can’t just pick up the phone and talk to each other???? Again, I’m not talking about that random stranger in a chat room, I wouldn’t want them having my phone number either. But IMing with your Mom, your best friend, your lover or partner?? What the fuck ever happened to connection? CONNECTION people! In a very short time we have gone from being a society where we connected with each other, whether it was a family dinner or sitting at a bus stop, to a society that spends sickening amounts of time in front of computers and game screens. Our whole lives and interactions with our environment have become, and are becoming even more so, canned, prepackaged and sequestered.
Rarely is there one parent working. Most often both parents have jobs, and some even have more than one job. Kids are shuffled from school, to soccer practice, to violin lessons, to play dates and are on schedules. Since when in fucking holy hell did it become socially acceptable for a CHILD to be on a schedule? I’ll tell you when. Since it became essential to our SURVIVAL for both parents to work, Since our public schools became so incredibly DEFUNDED that they can’t even afford to FEED THE CHILDREN THAT ATTEND THEM or have a fucking gym or music class! These tiny replicas of ourselves are OUR FUTURE. THESE are the people that are going to be wiping OUR asses when we get to old and decrepit to do it ourselves! Where is the disconnect? What are we teaching the future generation about connection? Connecting to others is what fosters compassion. When we SEE the face of that homeless person begging for a quarter for a meal. When we SEE the elderly woman who has fallen down and no one is stopping to help her back up. We learn how to CARE through connecting with others, and other living things. Silence is the voice of complicity. I don’t even have children and sometimes I feel like I’m a freak when I get outraged at how fucked up our priorities as a society have become.
Of course there are those of us who wouldn’t think twice about helping an elderly woman up, or giving a quarter to a hungry homeless person. But I have to wonder what makes a person NOT want to do those things? What makes someone yell violently at stopped traffic? Is there really anything that anyone can do about it? What makes teenagers bully those that are more tender and seemingly “different” than themselves? A very simplified answer would be: connection. There is a sever lack of it in our society today.
It is all to easy to get caught up in our own worlds. Especially when it’s increasingly difficult just to make ends meet, let alone take a vacation or some free time to simply breathe. But, I have to believe that if we took, even just once a week, 10 seconds to smile at someone, or let the person behind us in line at the grocery store who has one or two items go ahead of us, people will want to pay that forward. Every time we choose to be kind to someone, everyone involved feels ease, joy, gratitude etc. And conversely, every time we yell, scream or create tension, often that gets taken out on others down the line. Maybe you had a bad day at work, you come home and take it our on your dog, who is truly innocent and lives to love and adore you. Just imagine what your life, and the world would be like if you took the time to be kind to others. What would it look like? How would you feel about what you have done with your day, week, or life if you chose to smile?
Food for thought.
