I woke up to this realization just some days ago. Have you realized that most of our meeting with people these days is online, over the phone or through emails? When I think about the time I am ‘really meeting someone’ it boils down to meeting my cousin who is sweet enough to make it a point to meet me. I felt uncomfortable that my memories of actual life experiences filled with happy moments and exciting things shared with others are very few and far in between. Most of them go back to school or college days. There are a few laced here and there of memories with colleagues I loved working with... But then they seem to stop there.
What am I trying to say? I guess it boils down to this... We are a generation who has just stopped living the way I guess people lived a century ago. Now we ‘connect’ but don’t spend time together. Now we chat but don’t share our heart with each other... We remember our favourite scenes from movies better than we remember times with our friends. Chances are we have watched those movies several times but haven’t spoken to our friends that often.
I can go to the extent of saying ‘a book is my best friend’ because I spend time with it and give it all my attention while reading cover to cover. But can we say the same about the time and attention we give to our friends?
I feel sad that as human beings who cannot live alone... Remember - ‘No man is an island’... we seem to be entering a fast lane where we land up alone with a routine that is filled chock-a-block with time consuming, patience eating things-to-do that leave us with not even a stray chance of actually spending meaningful time with someone else. It is no one that no one feels for anyone else’s pain any more... It is no wonder that relationships are breaking left-right and centre!
I guess that bring me to the conclusion that the people who write books, songs and those who make movies are the ones who are creating memories for us these days. I wonder if they know it! God help us if they fill crap into them and we lap it all up! We would end up becoming a junkyard!!! How terrible!
I guess that is all the more reason we should be careful about what we read, listen and watch... they leave a big imprint on our lives. There are so many carbon copies of ‘heroes’ and ‘idols’ around, it feels sick sometimes. I wonder what happened to the good old original ‘me’. Looks like nobody wants that anymore... except some people like me. Everyone wants to model themselves on this or that successful or famous person so much that they are not themselves anymore!
When I go to buy clothes I have to search and search for something that is not the trend! I just don’t want to be one of the numerous copycats of the latest trend. I want to be ‘me’. Same with music and movies... I like to check out what it is about before I decide whether it is worth hearing or watching. Guess this world has become one big assembly line factory set up. You make one famous guy wear this and then it becomes a rage... every tom dick and harry wants to wear it afterwards.
Where was I? At relationships... yes. How many conversations have you had with anyone that went beyond ‘Hi! How are you?’ ‘the weather’, ‘the latest buzz’ or something mundane? It is so dehumanizing... Nobody really wants to know if you have something to share. Nobody has time to care for anyone else but themselves. Sad. It is no wonder our generation has the most number of people who are lonely, depressed and feeling suicidal. And when they do want to talk who do they have to go to? Counsellors who have to be paid so they listen to you. Worse still they get judged for just venting out sometimes.
It sounds too simple to be true... but the answer lies in the simple old way of living. Spending meaningful heart time with your family and friends... making memories, making mistakes and learning from them, laughing together, laughing at ourselves... checking out an old hobby, going after that silly sounding dream... After all these are things that make us human... these are things that keep our hearts alive.
I’ve decided I’m going all out to live like never before. What about you?
