Are You Giving Yourself the Chance to Live?

[Chip McDonald]

(ok, so I'm back, so you have to indulge me in my long-winded stream-of-consciousness essays...)

 

 

I found myself pondering the death of Hunter Thompson on a local message board a moment ago.

 

I was making the point that it was somewhat reassuring, in these times of Instant History being made almost daily, that Thompson was somewhere probably making up some curmudgeonly sarcastic diatribe about it.

 

I then pointed out that in his absence there is no one sliding in to fill his shoes.

 

At which point a person posted that "it's the educational system!"... as if everyone is too non-educated to appreciate him.

 

I disagreed, on the basis that the educational system has never been better, particularly at it's 21st Century purpose of churning out Perfectly Suitable Challenging Job Citizens. That the problem is in the time compression element that our society has inculcated into Another Neccessity of Modern Life.

 

That today, it is considered absolute anathema to even ponder not immediately going to college after HS. Not only that, but HS has now turned into an all-encompassing activity - there isn't such a thing as "Free Time" anymore, and even when there is a little bit it would seem it is de rigeur to participate in a School Sanctioned Sport.

 

It's like everyone is in a mode to hurry up and get life out of the way. No one smells the roses anymore - and that's what Thompson was all about. Society isn't going to give another potential Hunter S. Thompson a chance to occur, because that person will be too busy trying to make ends meet, or to climb the next rung of the corporate ladder. Meanwhile, the people that might appreciate said nascent Neo-Thompson, aren't given the chance to develope any sense of the esoteric in stimulation - hence the less than reluctant acceptance of so much banality in modern media.

 

The impetus to write this was on a zen-like notion that just occured to me:

 

even for myself, to have this sort of "interaction" to even discuss this I am having to use a defered-time method of communication - online message forums - because everyone is on a time-compressed lifestyle.

 

This is extreamly worrisome to me, because lately I have been feeling extreamly alienated in almost everyway from "the Rest of the Population"... while at the same time I look and see what appears to be a future that is even less personal, less-developed in an *true* esoteric sense.

 

I feel like I've been dropped off on the wrong planet.

 

----------------------

 

As I posted elsewhere here recently, I've pondered today's time-compressed lifestyle versus those in "less advanced" eras in human history. Our physical lifestyle is so much more comfortable today, that's a definite. BUT, our mental lives *have regressed enormously*, certainly to pre-renaissance levels. Did people work harder "back then", really? Some people, who seemed to have a penchant for "self-improvement", appeared to have time to do so. The philosophy was of working to *live*, as opposed to living to work.

 

Yeah. Working to live versus living to work. That's become inverted in the 21st century, and it's alienating to me. I want to hear conversations about heady things, I want to hear people motivated to do things that are different, outside the norm, and not be afraid of the social ramifications... I want to know that a person who is into music, for example, can feel like it's ok to pursue it - instead of a more obvious "traditional career path"... That there are still outlets for creative people.

 

Instead it feels like I'm surrounded by people who are so focused on the Party Line that the only thing they think about is maximizing every action they do for maximal profit. Or, their job positions are so all-consuming that it's all they ever think about.

 

That's not living!

 

The music industry sucks now, and the entertainment industry, because as a people we're willingly turning into automatons. There will be no new cultural renaissance, certainly not my "Emotional Renaissance" I hinted at in yet another thread - because Time Compression isn't just for audio anymore.

 

No one has time to even just talk anymore!

 

 

Because of a dearth of True Human Interaction , depth of human experience is being sucked out of our culture at trans-light speed, and I look around and it seems like everyone is turning into disaffected, anti-emotional people who might long for something "more" but have been programmed not to contemplate doing anything about it.

 

Which is very sad. To me, at least.

[DJDM]

Great thoughts Chip. It's good to have you back.

[Sp3nc3r]

Oh how I have missed these....

 

Again, lots of food for thought, Chip. I'll have to get back to you when I have more time.

 

....and yes, I'm aware of the irony in that response considering the subject matter

 

Cheers!

Spencer

[Lee Flier]

Well, what can I say Chip? I couldn't agree more (but you knew that already). I still think that some people WILL and do crawl out of the woodwork and have depth in spite of it all, but - like Thompson did - they will pay a hefty price for it.

 

For me, "smelling the roses" is an absolute necessity, and I've foregone many opportunities for more material comfort, in order to have that. If anything could make ME want to shoot myself (and I'm not joking), it would be having to be part of that rat-race mentality for a prolonged period of time. And if anything else could, it'd be years of having no one else around who appreciated and was committed to living a life in depth.

 

Much of my life feels like a daily struggle to hang onto those things. It becomes harder and harder to swim upstream as time goes on, and that scares me.

 

What also scares me is that when people do rebel against this regimentation and break down - that is, begin (quite naturally I think!) suffering from depression, anxiety, ADD, etc. etc... they are told they can just take a pill and they won't feel that way anymore... end of story, no need to think about it anymore. Or at most, it's a personal or family problem. Never a deeper problem at the societal level.

[not Cereal]

no time to respond - off to work

[the stranger]

I agree and also feel like I was dropped off on the wrong planet. Solution?

 

Revolution. It's the only chance. The "system" has taken on a life of it's own. I don't see any other option other than full scale revolt.

Of course, It appears that people have also had this critical element of survival programmed out of them, too.

The human race is being bred for slavery and children are taught that in order to succeed and find happiness, you must conform and play your role in society. And the almighty god of television reinforces this bullshit at every turn.

People are being programmed from birth to conform.

And any deviation from this is considered wrong and banishment is what you will recieve for not playing the game. And that's if your lucky...if you push it far enough, you may end up dead.

 

The only freedom and chance to live resides in the will to fight. And it appears that that will to fight has been surpressed by fear. And that fear has no substance except for what we give it.

 

Mankind can make the choice to live. And if we don't make this choice, the only one we can blame for our suffering is ourselves.

 

"Freedom is not free."

 

"Redbook " September 1961

 

"We are simply seeking to bring into full realization the American dream-a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men no longer argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; the dream of a land where every man will respect the dignity and worth of human personality-this is the dream. When it is realized, the jangling discords of our nation will be transformed into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood, and men everywhere will know that America is truly the land of the free and home of the brave."

 

"Sixteenth Street Baptist Church " Birmingham, Alabama May 3, 1963

 

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

 

"March on Washington " Washington, D.C. August 28, 1963

Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

[the stranger]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

What also scares me is that when people do rebel against this regimentation and break down - that is, begin (quite naturally I think!) suffering from depression, anxiety, ADD, etc. etc... they are told they can just take a pill and they won't feel that way anymore... end of story, no need to think about it anymore. Or at most, it's a personal or family problem. Never a deeper problem at the societal level.

Nothing like some psychotropic substances to sedate the masses and keep them in place.

[KenElevenShadows]

This is a topic that I've wondered about for some time.

 

I see people here working 2-3 jobs, rushing around, and working very hard. This is part of the reason why people don't have time to cook a decent meal and sit down with the family, but instead, rush through a drive-through and purchase some McFlab before they dash off to their second job or whatever.

 

It used to be that in the U.S., we pointed the finger at Japan and said, "Wheeww! Look at those poor people. They work TOO hard, and the stress is really taking its toll on their bodies. Good thing WE'RE not like them!"

 

But some years ago, the U.S. surpassed Japan in average amount of hours worked. So now we're the unbalanced society, the "culture" with the world's worst obesity problem.

 

It's undoubtedly one of the reasons I like to get away from everything and go to another country each summer to try and reorient myself, to "de-countrify" myself, to try and regain some sanity.

 

And as it is, I don't have it so bad as others. I have a teaching job, so my hours are shorter, I get more holidays, and I have the option of taking the summer off. I get to be creative and have some fun or read some interesting books, so I'm lucky.

 

But I think Americans in general work like donkeys just to try and afford a place to live.

[fantasticsound]

I feel your pain regarding this emptiness in the wake of Hunter Thompson's death, but I don't think things have changed all that much regarding what I'd call the lemmings of society.

 

Sure, our lives are more hectic than ever, given most families are two income families or single parent/income now. We do have so many options it's difficult to limit ourselves to just a few scheduled activities after work or school.

 

But the lemmings have always lived to work and will continue to do so. The Hunter Thompsons, Henry David Thoreaus and others who both march to the beat of a different drummer and pause to ponder their universe for more than a second here or a moment there are also present and accounted for. And, as in previous eras, they are so few and far between as to melt into the background until they choose (as H.T. certainly did) to make society aware of them.

 

I'd love society as a whole to grasp this concept. My wife and I certainly do. (Sometimes to the severe detriment of some responsibilities... have to learn to balance those a bit better. )

 

One of the most important ways people can take baby steps to enjoy life is to realize you do have to stop to smell the roses. I mean literally! Being at a family gathering, on a special trip or simply enjoying a beautiful day, it's easy to delude yourself into thinking you're enjoying it when, in fact, you're tending to so many things you miss the fun you're there to experience.

 

This is so true of weddings. A friend of ours told us, prior to our nuptuals, to make the effort to find one another at the reception then stop and look around. Soak up what was happening around us rather than simply pay attention to one face after another with no perception of the big picture. The memories we made by examining our family and friends in those moments were special just for the noticing, but even more so for sharing them with each other.

 

We've made a concsious effort over the years to "make memories" within everyday occurances and extraordinary events. It's very empowering and fulfilling.

 

We also take the time to discuss books and items in the news a lot. And Lilly is encouraged to listen and participate. Kids have a way with drawing your attention to ideas adults rarely notice within a discussion. It's the whole, "Dead Poet's/Yawp" idea of changing your perception and participation.

 

I only hope other families do the same. Unfortunately, I know there are a lot of people for whom daily life is life. They tend to have a very small (and often times dim) view of the world.

 

One sad note. A friend of my wife mentioned a conversation she'd had with her 20 year old cousin in which our friend used the phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day." The cousin asked, "What's Rome?" She not only hadn't heard the phrase. She really had no clue that Rome was a city in Italy, let alone that it was the seat of one of the greatest empires of all civilization.

 

Which leads me to the point that whoever suggested the school system holds a lot of blame for the situations you decry was, to some degree, correct. We see far too many people on Street Smarts and Jay Leno's street segments who appear to be normal adults but don't know information that the media drown us in, such as who the President is. I see a very sad state of affairs when I look at news regarding our education system, nationally and locally.

[Dan South]

I don't know what you mean by "today's time-compressed lifestyle." We are completely in control of how we spend our time.

 

- If you are racing to get the kids to soccer practice, it's because you CHOSE to enroll them in the soccer program.

 

- If you are racing home to watch your favorite shows, it's because you CHOOSE to watch television regularly.

 

- If you are racing to pick up a last minute birthday present, it's because you CHOSE not to buy something in advance.

 

It's not as though we are forced to live busy lives by government decree. If you are too busy, either slow down or work more efficiently.

[Zweite Version]

Great topic! "Living to work" versus "Working to live".

Even though this dilema is on a world-wide scale, it is less appearant in Europe, though it is getting there too.

I read that line before: 'Americans live to work, Europeans work to live'. And at a closer look, this may well be true (generally speaking).

I live in the US since about 3 1/2 years now, and there are some differences in social life and how people spend their free time (if they have any at all). Here, you don't have people pop over in the afternoon for a coffee and socializing, or a bottle of wine. Also, people seem to engage much less in outdoor activities than in Europe, which is kind of ironic given the vast variety of nature this country has to offer (from deserts to mountains to oceans, etc...)

It is very common in Austria for example, for somebody to pop over unannounced to somebodies house on a bicycle and propose a bike trip on a sunny Sunday aternoon, or a hiking trip, or just a walk along a lake and drink a beer or two at an outside cafe. I've never even seen an outside cafe in the US, except in California, but I'm sure there are some elsewhere.

Even children seem to be under constant stress. My wife's nephew is in so many after school sports activities, I get dizzy just thinking about it (then again, I was never a 'sports' person anyway). But my point is, people just seem to think that you have to have those 'forced' activities for the kids in order to keep them busy and off the video games or TV or even worse things. What's wrong with the whole family just taking a day trip somewhere, or even half a day trip? In many cases, the parents simply have no time for it, with both parents working to afford the health insurance (I know this is bluntly put, but there's some truth in it I believe). In Europe people don't have to worry about health insurance, and get 5-6 weeks paid vacation every year, while here many struggle just to survive.

That said, I think the trend in Europe is definatly going towards the same 'live to work' mindset as here, slowly.

[Zweite Version]

Originally posted by Ken/Eleven Shadows:

It used to be that in the U.S., we pointed the finger at Japan and said, "Wheeww! Look at those poor people. They work TOO hard, and the stress is really taking its toll on their bodies. Good thing WE'RE not like them!"

 

Yes, we said the same things about Japan where I'm from. A friend of mine saw a documentary once about seminars in Japan where people are taught how to spend their free time. He was talking about it for weeks, about how absurd that is. Ironically, he turned out to become the biggest workaholic I've ever seen.

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by The Stranger:

I agree and also feel like I was dropped off on the wrong planet. Solution?

 

Revolution. It's the only chance. The "system" has taken on a life of it's own. I don't see any other option other than full scale revolt.

Against whom?

[phaeton]

I can't offer anything intelligent in response to this thread, but i can just say "wow".

 

Lots of nails hit on the head here. As i read this i can think of Everyday Examples of this sort of thing, both in my life and in people around me.

 

Maybe this is another symptom of it, but i'm becoming more and more aware of the finiteness of my lifespan- I'm already halfway through it and i don't feel like i've really lived. I also feel like i could or should be much happier than i am (i just don't know what to do about it).

 

What also scares me is that when people do rebel against this regimentation and break down - that is, begin (quite naturally I think!) suffering from depression, anxiety, ADD, etc. etc... they are told they can just take a pill and they won't feel that way anymore...

 

When really it is the emotionless, cookie-cutter-personalitied people that are the messed up ones. The person with the "problems" is just reacting to a set of artificial emotional constraints.

 

Welcome back Chip. I've missed you.

[strat0124]

99% of the reason I moved to the mountains and took a massive pay cut. I'm healthier, happier, and sensually stimulated beyond what I've known as an adult in the past 25 or so years. Pondering these thoughts to the nth degree isn't constructive in my humble opinion. The only solution for me was to rid myself of all the negative influences that drive you down that road of despair in the first place. Sometimes that means friends, family, spouses, etc. Hunter Thompson was an apparent tortured soul way back when I read his Hell's Angels book. I think it'd be pretty good guess he did alot of living. He decided to end his life the way he saw fit, not by other means beyond his control. Right or wrong he chose it for himself.

[miroslav]

I too have been pondering along similar lines.

 

What is the point of my daily life?

I work to make a living...but, am I really living....?

 

I am realizing that the work I do every day...is really meaningless in the big scheme of things...and it's not making any major impact on me, as a person, either.

 

I mean...I could be doing a dozen other jobs, making the same income...and it would not make any difference in the long run.

 

That bothers me a bit...I need to feel like there is a difference...like there is a point.

 

My goal right now is to try and retire as early as possible.

I need very little in the way of creature comforts...and I have no one at the moment that I need to care for.

So...I can trim down my need to work...and hopefully I can concentrate on things that are more fulfilling...spend more time smelling those roses...and waiting for my ship to beam me up.

[Kendrix]

Originally posted by Dan South:

I don't know what you mean by "today's time-compressed lifestyle." We are completely in control of how we spend our time.

 

- If you are racing to get the kids to soccer practice, it's because you CHOSE to enroll them in the soccer program.

 

- If you are racing home to watch your favorite shows, it's because you CHOOSE to watch television regularly.

 

- If you are racing to pick up a last minute birthday present, it's because you CHOSE not to buy something in advance.

 

It's not as though we are forced to live busy lives by government decree. If you are too busy, either slow down or work more efficiently.

My thougthts exactly.

Blaming society (or any external factor) for our own negative energy, can be a cop out for many folks.

 

I own my decisions.

I own my reactions to the worlds imperfections.

I am responsible for my own negative or positive energy.

Each individual needs to cultivate their own connection to the infinite well of positivity.

Its there if you want it to be. Just as the infinite well of negative energy is.

 

This doesnt make lifes choices or tradeoffs any less painful- but its way better than not having the choice to make.

 

For a variety of reasons Im part of the corporate rat race. The tradeoffs involved in that do drag me down sometimes. However, Im free to move to an alternative situation if i choose to do so. Nothings perfect and Im able to accept the imperfect situation Im faced with.

I dont hold anyone else responsible for it.

 

If I sometimes get negative on the state of the world I just think about how incredibly fortunate we all are to be living at a time when the well being of mankind is vastly superior to that of any previous era. As imperfect as things are- I believe this is true both in the sense of health, material goods religious and various other freedoms. Look at what lifespans have done. Look at the percentage of the average persons time devoted to securing the bare essentials necessary for survival. Look at the organic outpouring of goodwill in the wake of the Tsunami. Ive noticed that bi-racial couples often dont even get stared at these days- how cool is that? Most importantly Look at all the very capable and affordable recording gear that most of us here now take for granted.

 

BTW- I just re-read "The art of Happiness".

It makes sense to me.

[miroslav]

But I think the point Chip is making is that many of those decisions that you/me/we are making...are the result of some "new-world programming"...and so we THINK we need those things that in reality we can easily get by without.

 

It's that whole "give in to the dark force" shit at work on everyone...

[the stranger]

The corporations that have seized control of our government, the free market, and global affairs. And the corrupt "leaders" that allowed it to happen.

 

Everything that is pure and right is being sacrified at the alter of capitalism.

 

I'm all for a free market. But what we have here is anything but that. The people of this world are powerless because they continue to participate in a system which sees people as a commodity and nothing more. Expendible. (sp?)

 

The workers of this world do all the work, while the owners of this world reap all the profit.

 

It's nothing new. This class based system of control has been going on since the dawn of recorded history.

All through history, we build the temples for those who would lead us. And all through history, the ones who lead us are the ones who decieve us.

 

And based on the history of mankind, I have no choice but to resist.

 

People have the knowledge and the power to take back what is rightfully ours, but we choose to conform because we feel powerless as individuals to enact change.

And the endless systems of division are the number one tool of control. As long as the people of this planet stay divided, we will continue to be controlled.

 

It's all about the money. Nothing else matters.

 

There is no logical excuse for all the bullshit in the world. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

 

People all over the world starve to death everyday. And considering all our technology and advancement, this is totally unacceptable.

Just look at Africa and all the misery and death that has been going on there for years. All of which was totally preventable.

 

What's the scoop here? No profit incentive in saving these people from all this disease and starvation? Better to just let them all die so we don't have to start a war to pillage their resources?

Is it because they are a differnt country? What justification can mankind offer to justify the horrors of that nation?

How will history look at the nations of power and wealth who turned a blind eye to all this suffering?

 

How will history look at the nations of power and wealth who used untold sums of money and resources in the perpetuation of war, rather than the eleviation of suffering?

 

History just keeps repeating itself. And as long as people keep going along with all this bullshit, nothing will ever change.

 

Solution? Massive labor strikes on a global scale.

The people have the power to shut the system down and bring those in control to their knees.

We can force change and start getting a fair trade

for our blood, sweat, and tears.

 

[P.S. Lee, are ya trying to get me ranting or what?]

[KenElevenShadows]

Of course, Dan is right. We make our own choices. But I think that the overall zeitgeist of our society is going in this direction. Not only are we expressing concern for people and society in this regard, but also because entire generations will grow up internalizing this and think that this is "normal". It's already happened. In my opinion, it's NOT "normal" It's not "balanced".

[coyote]

Mayb this is entirely semantics, but IMO the "make memories" concept is one of the biggest hooks in the disease we're discussing here. "Making memories" implies that the future won't be worth experiencing in its own right, that we'll have to fall back on these manufactured 'memories' in order to have any fulfillment at all.

 

"Making memories" is something you do at Epcot's pre-arranged photo spots. Experiencing life is something different entirely. Again I'm sure it's just semantics, that your process of making memories is the process of truly experiencing life.

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

We've made a concsious effort over the years to "make memories" within everyday occurances and extraordinary events. It's very empowering and fulfilling.

[Tedly Nightshade]

We're living in a world where everything has been poisoned. Everything. Eskimo mother's milk is posioned by DDT and dieldrin, industrial toxins mimicking estrogen are playing havoc with the very metabolisms of every mammal out there. There is no escape, you just hope your liver holds out.

 

This is a new situation. It wasn't like that in the early part of this century. Since Roman times, people have been poisoned en mass, but this is new. Consequently, I maintain that this is probably the worst time to be alive that humans have known, getting worse all the time.

 

Damn shame, you couldn't ask for a more beautiful, generous, or resilient planet to live on. But we continue to poison ourselves and everybody else all day long.

 

And you know poison does things to your personality. You go "mad as a hatter" if you get too much mercury in your system. God knows what kind of crazy swings you go through as the estrogen-mimicking toxins throw all your hormones completely out of whack.

 

So I continue to try to have the presence of mind and spirit to enjoy what's left of the beauty all around me, and to savor the poignance of it's mortality. At this time, it's not just you and I, it's the whole world that's mortal. Species disappear, what's left of our forests struggles to purify the air and water, air and water that is toxic beyond what the entire healthy forests we have cut down could shelter us from. Cutting these trees is just like cutting out our own livers- so much sooner will we stifle on our waste.

 

So, I give myself a chance to live. For now. While I can. I savor what's left, knowing it will be gone.

 

But I won't bring another creature into this world if I can help it. Not a kitten, not a human child. I will preside over generations of yeast- their little lives flash by so quickly. But every creature born is poisoned by the time they are conceived, and is doomed to witness the destruction of everything they might ever come to hold dear and to treasure.

[Jimbroni]

Because of a dearth of True Human Interaction , depth of human experience is being sucked out of our culture at trans-light speed, and I look around and it seems like everyone is turning into disaffected, anti-emotional people who might long for something "more" but have been programmed not to contemplate doing anything about it.

I call it the fast food society. Honestly I don't think people are the zombies you make them out to be. It could be YOUR perspective, and how YOU relate to their choices. I'm with you, I think people should slow down, listen to Jazz, get dressed up nice, go downtown, instead of bashing out punk rock or emimem on the way to pick up Taco Bell for the kids, cause your in a hurry to get the TV. I view that with distaste, others don't. Isn't it me and my perspective creating the negative here. Isn't it really my idea that something is wrong here. Chip, you weren't born on the wrong planet. You were born on precisely the right planet, was it not this planet that gave you the inspiration for such a great bit of writing that you gave us.

 

Ahh and speaking of smelling the roses, you've inspired me to take off early today so I can get ready to go to the Keller Williams Concert tonight.

[blackfish]

this sounds like Phait. whiny why is life so fast paced and why can't i enjoy every modicum of existence granted to my mortal being. the solution is stop FUCKINg WHINING. Great people living great lives are there, right there where you all are. look harder....or stop looking and understand that manifest destiny is only an american ideal. the thought that life might pass you by, or chips thought that americans are in a hurry to pass it by are such redundant thoughts in human nature. Do any of you have someone you love? Have you ever had what I call a lifetime moment with this person? You know a moment when you look in to the face fo this person and you can see their soul, it lasts for a lifetime. Every one of us passes this instant by everyday, repeatedly. Smell the roses he says, I say first you have to know which ones really are roses. Roses die, the roses you all might be looking for have been replaced in Tedly's impending doom theory, but they are roses nonetheless, and deserve to be seen as such by those who are willing. The twilght of your existence is not such a dark place, it all depends on whether you keep your eyes open while you journey that long road.

 

"a wise man once said that parting is nothing more than good-bye for the moment, if we meet again, well, then we can smile, but if we never meet again then it was a parting well made." i think i heard this in some strange teeny bopper movie as a young teen, is till remeber it as it is one of the roses that dot my lifetime.

[Blue Strat]

My solutions:

 

1) Boycott something - economic revolt.

 

2) Vote when you get the chance.

 

3) Question authority.

 

4) Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

[KenElevenShadows]

You don't even have to do something *that* radical. Voting, sure. But it starts really locally, too. Lead by example, and show people how much fun you're having, and how much fun you are to be around by leading a slower-paced lifestyle in which you are having the time of your life. Help others to see it too.

 

And I say this not because those points of economic boycotts and such aren't valid, but because this is something that's easy enough to do on your own. Because for economic boycotts to work, you have to get everyone involved to show discontent, and that's not easy to do.

 

But back to discussing ATTITUDES and the general ZEITGEIST of our culture, I'll mention again that I work as a teacher. Now, just about anyone who knows anything about special education teachers knows that we are anything but lazy. But because I work shorter hours (8:00-3:15, although I usually show up at 7:30) and have a couple of months off in the summer (if I choose), I have been called lazy or unambitious numerous times.

 

Lazy.

 

Because I can take long trips, play in a band, record music, indulge in photography, and read books in my spare time and don't have a kid, I am now lazy. Or unambitious.

 

These are comments from people who otherwise seem reasonably intelligent. But they have somehow internalized this whole bizarre work ethic. And this is what I am referring to when I mention that it's a whole cultural attitude that concerns me. Sure, we can all make our own decisions about what we want to do with OUR life (sometimes because we are in a wonderful position of luxury in which we actually HAVE choices - think about that for a moment! How many other people have that luxury?), but sometimes our choices are tainted by the attitudes that we are immersed in from the time that we are born.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by coyote:

Mayb this is entirely semantics, but IMO the "make memories" concept is one of the biggest hooks in the disease we're discussing here. "Making memories" implies that the future won't be worth experiencing in its own right, that we'll have to fall back on these manufactured 'memories' in order to have any fulfillment at all.

 

"Making memories" is something you do at Epcot's pre-arranged photo spots. Experiencing life is something different entirely. Again I'm sure it's just semantics, that your process of making memories is the process of truly experiencing life.

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

We've made a concsious effort over the years to "make memories" within everyday occurances and extraordinary events. It's very empowering and fulfilling.

Coyote, while I agree with Dan South that we make our own choices, it would be naive for me to say I could choose to get up tomorrow and tell my boss to go f*&k himself tomorrow because my choices have led to responsibiities. First and foremost to take care of my family, and to a lesser extent, to pay for a home, food, and conveniences of life.

 

That takes a lot of time for those of us who haven't managed to be or become wealthy. I could no more quit work to spend more time with my daughter than I could go without eating for 9 months. Because the very real consequences would cause me to be apart from her a lot more, in the long run, to pay for the life I we live. (And we're not talking fancy cars, fancy house and dining out a lot.)

 

So when I talk about making memories, it is not a symptom of the problem. It's taking back what I can of my time, making the most of it whether in study/discussion, recreation or relaxation AND taking the time within those soothing moments to imprint the experience on my memory. Everyone talks about their favorite experience or memories of years past. Our technique of making memories is stopping to smell the roses, literally. It's one thing to take a walk in the park. It's a whole other thing to consciously stop to examine things along the way. Making Memories is the latter. An extension of anything you enjoy participating in.

 

And the point about weddings being a prime example is that I've heard many people talk about their wedding and reception with comments like, "If there weren't pictures I wouldn't know what went on there." We get so caught up in the moment that we forget to take time and digest individual events before they are replaced with other memories, and so on..

 

And, BTW, another aspect in Making Memories, for Denise and me, has been to take spontaneous time off and do something fulfilling rather than what was expected.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Ken/Eleven Shadows:

Of course, Dan is right. We make our own choices. But I think that the overall zeitgeist of our society is going in this direction. Not only are we expressing concern for people and society in this regard, but also because entire generations will grow up internalizing this and think that this is "normal". It's already happened. In my opinion, it's NOT "normal" It's not "balanced".

Gee, thanks, Ken! But sadly, I have to disagree...a little bit.

 

At no time in human history have people had so much discretionary time and available leisure activities than in the last few decades. Just think about the channel changer. We didn't need them when we had only three channels on TV. Now some people have HUNDREDS of channels plus ingenius devices that let them pause and time shift programs until the most convenient moment for viewing them.

 

Think about all that we have on demand. Pay per view movies. 24/7 news and weather reports. Endless communications opportunities. You don't have to be in your office to conduct business, anymore. You can "log in" from your home computer, return calls while travelling, and send email from anywhere - even the golf course -with your Blackberry. You can shop for clothes, books, even musical instruments without every leaving the house.

 

If you want to lose weight, some company will prepare all of your meals for you. If you need to send a package, the courrier will come to your address to pick it up. If you want to buy movie tickets, you don't have to show up early and wait in a long line; you can order it by phone.

 

I remember reading about a law in Britain in the late-Eighteenth Century that "protected" workers by requiring employers to limit the standard work day to NO MORE THAN 14 HOURS PER DAY. I'm sorry that people are having trouble squeezing a stop at The Gap between a massage at an opulant health club and a global conference call that they have at home in their pajamas, but somehow I don't believe that modern life is quite as grueling as life of 14 hour days in a damp, chilly, British coal mine.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[halljams]

Originally posted by Chip McDonald:

(ok, so I'm back, so you have to indulge me in my long-winded stream-of-consciousness essays...)

 

 

I found myself pondering the death of Hunter Thompson on a local message board a moment ago.

 

I was making the point that it was somewhat reassuring, in these times of Instant History being made almost daily, that Thompson was somewhere probably making up some curmudgeonly sarcastic diatribe about it.

 

I then pointed out that in his absence there is no one sliding in to fill his shoes.

 

At which point a person posted that "it's the educational system!"... as if everyone is too non-educated to appreciate him.

 

I disagreed, on the basis that the educational system has never been better, particularly at it's 21st Century purpose of churning out Perfectly Suitable Challenging Job Citizens. That the problem is in the time compression element that our society has inculcated into Another Neccessity of Modern Life.

 

That today, it is considered absolute anathema to even ponder not immediately going to college after HS. Not only that, but HS has now turned into an all-encompassing activity - there isn't such a thing as "Free Time" anymore, and even when there is a little bit it would seem it is de rigeur to participate in a School Sanctioned Sport.

 

It's like everyone is in a mode to hurry up and get life out of the way. No one smells the roses anymore - and that's what Thompson was all about. Society isn't going to give another potential Hunter S. Thompson a chance to occur, because that person will be too busy trying to make ends meet, or to climb the next rung of the corporate ladder. Meanwhile, the people that might appreciate said nascent Neo-Thompson, aren't given the chance to develope any sense of the esoteric in stimulation - hence the less than reluctant acceptance of so much banality in modern media.

 

The impetus to write this was on a zen-like notion that just occured to me:

 

even for myself, to have this sort of "interaction" to even discuss this I am having to use a defered-time method of communication - online message forums - because everyone is on a time-compressed lifestyle.

 

This is extreamly worrisome to me, because lately I have been feeling extreamly alienated in almost everyway from "the Rest of the Population"... while at the same time I look and see what appears to be a future that is even less personal, less-developed in an *true* esoteric sense.

 

I feel like I've been dropped off on the wrong planet.

 

----------------------

 

As I posted elsewhere here recently, I've pondered today's time-compressed lifestyle versus those in "less advanced" eras in human history. Our physical lifestyle is so much more comfortable today, that's a definite. BUT, our mental lives *have regressed enormously*, certainly to pre-renaissance levels. Did people work harder "back then", really? Some people, who seemed to have a penchant for "self-improvement", appeared to have time to do so. The philosophy was of working to *live*, as opposed to living to work.

 

Yeah. Working to live versus living to work. That's become inverted in the 21st century, and it's alienating to me. I want to hear conversations about heady things, I want to hear people motivated to do things that are different, outside the norm, and not be afraid of the social ramifications... I want to know that a person who is into music, for example, can feel like it's ok to pursue it - instead of a more obvious "traditional career path"... That there are still outlets for creative people.

 

Instead it feels like I'm surrounded by people who are so focused on the Party Line that the only thing they think about is maximizing every action they do for maximal profit. Or, their job positions are so all-consuming that it's all they ever think about.

 

That's not living!

 

The music industry sucks now, and the entertainment industry, because as a people we're willingly turning into automatons. There will be no new cultural renaissance, certainly not my "Emotional Renaissance" I hinted at in yet another thread - because Time Compression isn't just for audio anymore.

 

No one has time to even just talk anymore!

 

 

Because of a dearth of True Human Interaction , depth of human experience is being sucked out of our culture at trans-light speed, and I look around and it seems like everyone is turning into disaffected, anti-emotional people who might long for something "more" but have been programmed not to contemplate doing anything about it.

 

Which is very sad. To me, at least.

It's city life.

You can leave anytime you want, it's your choice.

[Blue Strat]

Because I can take long trips, play in a band, record music, indulge in photography, and read books in my spare time and don't have a kid, I am now lazy. Or unambitious.

Unambitious isn't a dirty word. Julius Caesar was killed for being ambitious. The things you mentioned doing take time and effort, therefore, you aren't lazy. Next time someone calls you lazy, ask them if they can play keys or guitar or drums. How much time and effort did you put into learning an instrument?