It seems hard sometimes (at least to me) to continue to live in a world where almost everything is disposable.
Or is claimed to be disposable.
Jobs are disposable, marriages are disposable, friendship is disposable, large capital purchases are disposable, careers are disposable, lifetime achievements are seemingly disposable.
We’ve lived in a world for a long time where income is apparently disposable, or certainly the goal of many people is to reach a stage where a significant part of their income is disposable.
Disposable to me suggests waste, leftovers, rubbish, something that should be cast aside. It seems often we don’t even look at the things we aspire to; we’re too busy obtaining them to even appreciate them.
For a glorious short while at the turn of the year I lived in a world where none of that really seemed to exist. A false place I know but wonderful it was! I was untouched by the compulsion to grow or to obtain more to get bigger or better, I just ‘did’ in that time because, well I just ‘did’.
Seven or eight weeks back in and overwhelmed and exhausted by the pace of the march towards something or somewhere I’m not quite sure of – this land of better and surrounded in many areas by people who don’t seem to appreciate anything good at all, just the need for accumulation of more things not to look at.
When I was 13 my mum and dad bought me a Walkman (it wasn’t a Sony, it was a cheaper version I think but it was amazing) and it game me the freedom to listen to music while I was outside. The first album I also got for the same birthday from my brother was ‘Boy’ by U2. That was in 1985, the year of Live Aid and I played that album until I’m sure the tape in the cassette snapped. I knew every single word and pause and space. I played it to death. I appreciated it. I loved (love) it.
It seems that very few people now (as always I fully include myself in this) seem to own or possess very few things that manage to keep our attention like that Walkman did to me.
Capitalism and growth in economic development are inventions – myths that we created and they are an enormous distraction in the pursuit of things that should actually make us feel wonderful. I know this because for a short while back there I managed to nail it, just for a very short while.
This is not a cry for help and I am not descending into a pit of despair. I am just realising more and more that my goal is not to get so big or so rich or so ‘successful’ (whatever that seems to mean now) it’s to stand against the tide and strike the balance in a world which doesn’t want or celebrate balance at all.
Blog Post Number - 1241
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