| | there's much that has gone on through my head recently and, trying to make sense of it all, i just lay here baffled. the last 24.75 years i have sat back and watched things happen in front of me with little to no sense to make of it. like today i was walking in the mall past the stench of hollister that i still cannot get out of my nose. upon approaching i heard a loveable little switchfoot song entitled "american dream." the whole point of the song is talking about how everyone in america is so caught up on making more money and getting more stuff and THAT has become the image of the american dream, when in reality the true american dream was far different from that. i find it ironic that the epitome of what is making kids these days feel a little bit more popular (such as a clothing label) showing that they have money (more like their parents do) is playing that particular song in their store.
sure...i was in the mall too, we all have to go for one reason or another. i, personally, was there to return a few things that i realized i just didn't need after all. i've been realizing the things i have haven't really ever been that important to me and i think its because i want to empathize with people and understand where they come from. just what would it be like if i didn't have my stellar music collection. what would i plug into my ears every chance i get? if i didn't have the option to choose between which pair of shoes to wear (which is a large task for me as i have somewhere between 40-50 pairs of them which i have collected since high school).
we spend our entire lives accumulating more crap for everyone to sort through after we die, when, really, we just don't need it. in the book i'm reading (see previous post for link: the irresistable revolution), one of the points made was based on a ghandi quote which was that the world shouldn't have any poverty at all because there is enough of things in the world, there are just some people taking more than their share. think about it, how many pair of shoes do you own and how many kids in the slums do not have the luxury of something as simple as a pair of shoes? the answer to both is a lot.
i once asked a friend (to make conversation) what is the first thing he would grab if his house were burning down. expecting him to answer with something like his collection of baseball cards or photos or something he said the most remarkable statement. "nothing," he said. really...nothing? "nothing. because anything i can think of is just meaningless stuff anyway." wow. personally i had thought of photos or some art i've made or something of that description, but why? art can be regenerated (its not easy, but it can be done) and photos are just snapshots of memories that are permanently in my brain storage space. so, he was right. very right. we shouldn't want to grab anything because "its just meaningless stuff."
i want to get to that point where i can truly and honestly say "nothing because its just meaningless stuff." |
| | Posted 7/20/2008 3:37 PM - 5 views - 1 comments
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