Today I want to talk about things we never talk about. I'm not just talking about the usual politics, religion and money and sex thing that are the usual big trunked animals in the room in every conversation amongst people. Although, yeah, we never talk about those things, too, and its for the best, I suppose. People are rabid about their politics. Notice I didn't say stupid or idiotic? See, I can play nice. I don't think people are as rabid about their religion, unless you happen to be a Pope or someone who actually gets paid to hawk the product. Sex? Who really wants to know how or who you bonk anyway? It's all wonderfully messy, but who wants to talk to friends about it over a hotdog and baked beans? Although, it is kind of funny how we readily discuss our girlfriend's proclivities but when we marry never our wive's.
Here are some things I think we'd all be better off if we talked about every once in a while.
Money and the accumulation of it.
Our deepest fears.
Is there a God or Prime Mover?
What is beyond beyond?
Did Scarlett ever find real happiness?
Aging.
What do we do in our depressed states?
Do we listen to music to mirror life or ourselves?
Are we happy?
What do we want to be remembered for?
I doubt if the Corner Boys ponder these things with one another. I'm sure they may think of them often. Seldom do we discuss such things. I know someone who has invested and worked at money their whole lives but I have not felt comfortable broaching the subject. It's just not done. Guess there goes my yacht.
It's funny the walls society builds between us. It's funny the walls we build around ourselves. Its no secret that many philosophers and thinkers have spent untold time and ink discussing the solitariness of humankind, even when we are shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. Norwegian Edvard Munch's The Scream evokes our place in a world where we are alone.
Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind."
Soren Keirkegaard, a Swede, was the first existential philosopher who wrote that we are born, we become alienated, then depressed, then die. What is it with those depressed Scandinavians? Gotta be the long dark winters, right?
As our own long winter descends upon us and our brief Christmas respite dissolves to a memory we see the future before us, cold temps and endless night. As we wrestle with the questions that whisper endlessly into our ears, and the flakes of white fall from a cloudy sky, I have a couple answers to keep your Scream from waking the neighborhood.
Firstly, and both of these possible solutions can be difficult to achieve, is to find activities that bring you joy. I love that word, joy. The definition includes "...emotion that evokes well-being, success, good fortune." I think we humans tend to shove the possibility of joy aside as we strive for more. I think we are uncomfortable with joy. But not more. More money, more sports, more beer, more time, more ice cream, more hair, more old cars, more more. Perhaps our real joy lies not in the "more", but in what we simply have now, or, gasp, "less". Maybe we need to simply step back and seek less more. Contentment or joy may lie in the fulfillment of what we already have. That's number one.
Secondly, the component that can keep the Scream at bay may be the very thing that creates the most angst for introverts. No other aspect of life warms us on cold winters days or long winters of the soul than a good friend. Pity the poor lonely person who has no friend. Someone at our side may be the four best words in direct combination of each other. If you have one of those then you may begin to discuss the big questions. And if you begin discussing the big questions then you may not feel so alone in this vast universe of particles, atoms and dust.
When you've got a buddy at your side, there's no need for more.
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