Life as everything else can be approached in thousands of different ways, and what really matters is how these universe of possibilities can affect you. The film 'Another Year' (by Mike Leigh) shows life, aging, friendship in a very honest and lovely way that has the power to reach you in whichever age you are. There's a chance it's going to bring you down a bit, but ignoring the uncomfortable bits that are part of our existence won't make them cease to exist. Some people told me the film is quite sloooow, but to be honest what I most liked about it was its pace, that suits the life I want to live.
We all feel some sort of social pressure to be busy, to do things and even to have fun. Your pictures on facebook show how active your social life is or is not, so does our mobile ringing constantly. A life full of commitments and virtual connections grant you the image of being friendly and fun to others and also to yourself.
Where others see buzz and excitement I see the fear of the quietness that brings reflexion and maybe questions. But as my friend said in one of our long conversations "If I just realise that I don't want to live the life I've chosen, what am going to do with my shoes?"
x B
I agree.
ReplyDeleteWe are so connected to everyone else minute to minute(facebook, twitter, mobiles) that we end up feeling the pressure of a thousand witnesses watching over our shoulders and asking us: "You ARE happy, right?!"
It's become normal to suffer from this immense fear of not being happy. Or worse, a fear of other people Thinking we are not happy.
Why do we torture ourselves like that? Life is about being very happy and real sad sometimes. Excited and lazy. Anxious and calm. Angry or friendly. It's all life. It's all good. It's all part of the experience. And as my friend Bill said, "It's just a fucking ride".
And some of us are indeed afraid of their own questions. "Who am I? What do I believe in? What's my goal in life? Do I really need to have a goal? Should I be saving money to buy a house? Is love the answer to my questions? Actually, what is love?"
And for not being able to face this questions (mainly because the answers would bring along a complete new way to live life), some of us keep doing whatever they think it's the only thing they could do.
Basically, they don't think. They just keep working. Which is not what they would choose to do, but what the Society Machine wants you to do and therefore, it's ok! People don't question it. It's the biggest imposed lie on Earth. You have to work your arse off. That's what everybody does. That's what's normal. That's happiness. Except 95% of people don't actually enjoy their work and they spend 1/3 of their life doing it. (Another 1/3 is spent sleeping, by the way.)
But deep down, they know it's a lie. They know they're lying to themselves.
They actually know the important questions. And I personally think they even know what the answers are.
The real collective fear, I believe, it's realising exactly what you want from life and also realising you don't have the balls to go after it.
But that should raise another question.. Is that really what you want from life? Or is that what you want to SHOW people?
If it's really what you want from life, you're lucky to realise it and you should definitely go after it.
I recently found myself trying to overcome this need to prove myself to people I don't even care about.
And after that, I realised I had to stop caring about what the people I do care about think I should be doing also.
I know it sounds harsh, but I believe that's the only way to find our own path.
We have to be grateful for all the love and care our friends and family's given us, but we should think about what's the next step for us, as a Being. As a developing Soul.
And even if you don't believe in souls and whatnot, you have to ask yourself: What would I feel good about doing?
And maybe that would be planting tomatoes with your mom. Maybe it would be living in a small house and painting. Maybe it would be reading books and having a glass of wine with friends now and then. Maybe it would be travelling a couple of times an year to somewhere new.
You don't need loads of money to do that.
But I promise you that doing whatever your inner self asks you to do will bring satisfaction and also will show you the next step.
So enjoy the ride.
(Sorry about the rant. I've drank too much coffee.)
I truly love you, Rafa.
And I'm really glad your sitting next to me in this roller-coaster. ;)