Being is not exponential
“We should be allowed to not strive to be the superhero of the world, the game changer, the revolutionists; because not all of us can be one, otherwise there wouldn’t be a reason for distinction”.
Observations
It’s weird to think that people of the past actually sat to listen to music. Today, such beautiful art might live much closer to our everyday activities, but most times, they’re playing on the background of a long trip, washed over by the sound of your shower, or blurred by the dense thoughts of your daily work.
Today I tried to put music in the center of my attention, and felt utterly calm and satisfied. It touched me so that I felt like dancing by myself in the attempts of feeling it even more. Then it hit me: “These kinds of moments are what keeps us alive and hopeful”. It makes sense why listening to music was once such a popular ritual among older generations.
Early in the afternoon, while eating with some of my siblings in our patio surrounded by nature and great weather, I thought: “This kind of moment is the reason why so many people devote their life to work so hard”. I told this to my siblings and added: “It’s a shame many get lost in the hustle of making enough to get it, and then forget to live it”. To which one of my brothers answered: “That’s why I’ve decided not to move out yet, because the standard of life I can afford for myself right now is lower than this one; so if I can stay, I will”.
Perspective
Some might judge us for actually being more than happy to extend our stay at our parent’s house, because “we should be looking to make it on our own”, but honestly, I don’t get when it became that important to prove that you could triumph over the world without help. Historically, humans would’ve been already extinct if it wasn’t because we supported one another. Our whole existence revolves around the construction and maintenance of our communities. So why the hell would we decide to leave our homes for no reason other than pride? If we have the opportunity to stay while we figure out our place in the world, given that many others don’t count with that option, I would say we would be dumb not to take it.
There might also be some people that comment: “But everything you have isn’t really yours, so where’s the satisfaction?” It ocurred to me because after thinking of all the motivated people to “make it” in the world, I thought to myself: “Well, I already have what they might’ve been looking for in the first place, and I’m only starting”. There’s many ways I could’ve gone with this thought, either developing an existential crisis based on the question “then what’s the point of trying?”, fixing on the idea that there had to be more to life than just that; I could’ve cut the train of thought and feel appreciative of my life or that I didn’t deserve it because most of my commodities were given by my generous parents and not earned; but instead, I chose to feel satisfied with all truths circulating the moment and took the peace it offered me.
Context
The strongest voice in the world wide cloud says that we should always be striving for more, that today is when you should eat the world, pick it by its mountains and make it yours by either exploiting it even further, or by healing it. Whatever the direction, the attitude remains the same, it says: “Take more. Do more. Be more”. Nothing seems to be enough.
I’m not about to reject the attitude all together, because that drive is the reason why our species has managed to triumph over many challenges that have put us in such advantageous place; but if you think about it, most of the opportunities to solve problems that we consider “challenging enough” and worth to devote our time, morals, and ideals, present to us only a few times in history. Sometimes, they don’t come at all in one’s lifetime. And we should be okay with that. We should be allowed to not strive to be the superhero of the world, the game changer, the revolutionists; because not all of us can be one, otherwise there wouldn’t be a reason for distinction.
Logic
I’ve been told many times that my generation and the ones below suffer from greater anxiety, stress and depression like no other generation had before. I would’ve thought the ones that lived WWI and II had more reasons to feel pain and loneliness, but then I think that they must’ve had more urgent things to attend everyday to even think of allowing themselves to give into their pain. They must have been in survival mode because their surroundings demanded it. And despite the horror, people were mostly focused on the safety of their loved ones and the people near them. Today everything is comparably okay, peaceful almost. There’s a lot happening, but mostly in the intangible world we have created on the internet and in our minds, which might seem better, but it just makes it harder to measure the true extent of any problem.
I’ll admit I don’t have the numbers, and I’m sure the reasons why the young people of today appear to be suffering more are a sum of many parts; but I believe that the pressure to be, do and want more, has much to do with why we go to dark places when things don’t seem to align with that thought, because we expect too much from ourselves.
Like I said before, the opportunities to be part of a global change and actually live through to see the end of it, are extremely rare, but we’re told we should strive for that. Of course we’ll feel anxious when we don’t see the stage of action just round the corner. In the attempt to look for something that might not even be there, we forget our surroundings and the everyday small achievements that could bring you the satisfaction to live, if you allowed them.
We should all have bigger goals and dreams to fight for, that’s for sure and most needed; but those achievements don’t happen every Monday or Tuesday, so how are we to live through the disappointments of the journey? In most cases, the grand challenge will remain even after our deaths, which will later be taken care of by someone else; but in the meantime, who takes care of you? How is one to remain hopeful if not by the everyday rituals that grant us satisfaction.
Reality
First I spoke of music, then I mentioned my family, nature and food. All of them gave me a moment of enjoyment, a social interaction, a full belly and a beautiful view. This morning I made my bed, I rinsed my face and put creams and all sorts of things on it. I made my breakfast just how I like it: first a mixture of vegetables, then two eggs topped with three cuts of avocado, a liter of water, and some tea. Now, at almost midnight, I realized that those small seemingly unimportant rituals, have filled me with the necessary satisfaction in order to feel at ease; and even though there can be more to life than just your everyday rituals, most days, that’s all there will be, and it’s alright to feel happy because of them. You don’t have to live on the verge of excitement every second of your life. You don’t have to be more, because either way, you’ll still be part of this world; and someday someone will turn to look at you and say “I need you”.
I do have dreams and ideals, and I’m constantly thinking and talking about them. I look forward to the possibilities that I might encounter because of them. I intend to work with them in mind, but I’m aware that currently I do not possess the louder voice, nor the larger stage to act that would grant me to expect that others would follow. But I do have my family, my friends and a community in which my everyday actions will surely affect, so I’ll put my efforts there, and maybe something might spread. After Covid-19 nothing would surprise me anymore, to be honest.
So identify the rituals that fill your satisfaction tank and take care of them, groom the process, “make it your own” if that’s your style. If they don’t hurt you or reduce the quality of your life, go for it. No matter if it’s going for a shit or a walk in the park. If it gives you satisfaction, it will eventually bring you peace. At the end of the day, when many people are used to drilling their minds with self criticism, you can answer back to that bully and say: “At least I did my bed”.
