So, I have been blog-slacking lately. But here is something I just posted on my Myspace that I like:
Sunday, October 23, 2005
From my brain to yours....
At my second job I usually have lots of time to read, today was no exception, and I spent 7 hours reading a feminist essay magazine. That probably sounds a little scary, but it was a good read. Plus it got my brain all stirred up, and that means we are going to have a long, long blog tonight. Yay! Aren't we all ever so excited? The best part is that my blog really has nothing to do with anything I read today, but that is how my mind works.
What I am pondering right now has two levels. First off I am wondering about the human need for intimacy. Does this necessarily need to be a partner driven need? Can't a feeling of intimacy also be fostered with one's self? Does intimacy solely mean sexual contact, or does it also mean a feeling of closeness, warmth, and belonging? Why is there such a push in society to define intimacy in partner terms?
I feel like it is symptom of a society afraid of knowing itself. Afraid to take a look inside and admit that we are just as screwed up as we think everyone else is. If we don't feel a need to look inside, we won't have to admit where we are lacking. So, we define intamacy as being with another person, not once thinking about the fact that we can never REALLY be with another person if we are not aware of ourselves. If you don't know where you are lacking, how can you really find what makes you complete? How can you give yourself to someone if you don't even know who you are?
If any of you have known me for awhile, you will already know that I have been on a journey of self discovery this year, and while that has honestly meant that I have spent a lot of time at home hanging out with my cats, it also means that I feel as if I have also come to have a more intimate knowledge of who I am as a person. It has given me the courage to base my decisions on what I need, not what everyone else says I should want. It has given me a greater awareness of self, of what I can offer.
This brings me to the second thing that I have been thinking about. I feel as if so often success is based solely on social and ecomonic status, your job, how many people you can notch in your bed post. No one takes the time to challenge these markers of success, we all just keep on going, striving for this unattainable perfection. This ideal that society tells us we need to have to be complete. We are told that if we aren't successful by the standards of society, we have no cause to be happy.
Just stop, take a look inside. Can you say you are truly happy? Happiness should have nothing to do with the last time you "got some action", it should have nothing to do with the size of your paycheck. Happiness should have everything to do with YOU. Can you count your moments of happiness in days? Hours? Mere minutes? Is all the stress of striving for success worth the outcome? Do you still know what you truly want out of life? Did you ever know?
This week I challenge everyone to reflect on what they want out of life. Forget about the things that you have been told should make you happy, and focus on what truly does make you happy. In a society obsessed with image, sex, and the needless accquiring, we often forget what the quality of our successes, the quality of our relationships with others, can only be as great as the happiness we have with ourselves.
...who knew I thought so much, right guys?
I have been around, and I have been reading your guys' journals. Life has just been getting in the way. Love to you all.