No wonder people do not feel quite happy or satisfied. How can be anyone be happy in a place in which, one way or another, they are not wholly present. Maybe it is a question of the parallel universes science fiction has evoked more than once.
Still, if frustration is here and now… can modifying the where and when help mitigate it?
My son once said that people are unhappy because they try to fix their past by mortgaging their future, and lose their present in the doing. His view, which makes sense to me, is that the present is the only real thing we have. The past is gone and little can be done to fix whatever we think we did wrong or wronged us. The future does not exist yet; but by ignoring the present, today, we can effectively spoil, not only the present but the future as well.
How can we enjoy the world we are so prone to ignore? How can we pretend to protect it? Is its protection just another gambit to gain control? Nothing can be protected if it is not controlled. Think of it: a canary is under full protection, and fully controlled, jailed, at mercy of when we choose to feed it or to take it out into the breeze. A baby is fully protected, and fully controlled. A child escapes our control and protection at times. Wild animals, if free, are beyond our control and protection. And we want to protect – control – the world?
Is it because we have been taught that adult behaviour means doing what is suitable and convenient? Is it because we have to be “reasonable” and nobody has bothered to define “reasonable”. How can we seek happiness in a world in which we don’t stop long enough to enjoy? Is it because we can’t stop because stopping is related to wasting time? Are we trying to postpone gratification as sensible thing to do?
We have deceived ourselves into thinking that an over-stuffed life, full of activities that do not really interest us, a radio tuned in all day, a television playing, the internet spewing keeps us abreast with the world and in the world… and all it really does is to make us feel lonelier, sadder and more helpless when we take stock of our lives.
This happens in all walks of life. A child’s day today is appalling. They have schedules that would ground top executives in any great firm. School is prolonged into extracurricular activities which go from sports to foreign language, music, art, karate and theatre… but that no longer are “enjoyable” because they become competitive and exacting.
The children today move in such a tight grid they can barely allow themselves to sneeze and blow their nose except when it is allowed, or they might miss their following connection. A rat race in every way worked out for the child’s future benefit. Surely his future will be better if he speaks English, French and/or Chinese, plays basket ball or is adept at roller skating, plays the violin or the piano. His future will surely be great… if he manages to get there. But he will have lost out on childhood. The funny (or sad) part is that the future is only reached through today.
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