One of the best things we (most of us) do today is putting up a false front. What happens inside our homes, rarely comes out. We have educated ourselves to be so closed, that it scares us to open up. What if the other person thinks we are a coward for opening up? Faking a smile has become an art. If someone can't do it, then they are being insensitive to the people around them. Finding a person to talk to and pouring out everything you need to, might just end up disturbing their peace of mind, that is if they do have one!
So what happens now? Since we have it all caged up in this big organ system of ours, where do we go from here? Do we just let life consume us or do we consume life? Sometimes the world is just an individual and sometimes its a maddening crowd, which one you want to be a part of is not the question, the question is which one will you let take over you.
There are some things that are inexplicable in life, one of them is existence itself. I am not set out to decipher it, I think the existentialists did their job. The other is courage [or a lack of it]. A lot of us rebel from the inside, but are hard core conformists on the outside. What happens to people like us?
Do we ever reach the other side? Is light really at the end of the tunnel, or is it just the end...?
3 comments:
From my experience, those who rebel on the inside and are conformists on the outside (i.e. people who put up false fronts) tend to live lives of frustration. Their lives tend to lack real meaning and purpose. Since they use so much of their energy trying to keep up the facade, they have little to give in their efforts to make the world a better place.
Speaking from the perspective of my job,the problem you have touched upon, Shreya, is rampant upon the religious and non-religious alike - the false fronts just look different. The real challenge for all of us is to live lives of authenticity. I have yet to meet an individual who does not crave relationships with authentic people who they can trust and with whom they can journey through life.
JEB
PS. Seems like such cravings for authenticity are evidenced in the Obama movement in this year's primaries.
@The Brooks, (in particular JEB)
I agree with you whole heartedly. Leading a false front, is definitely taxing, for you fear that your authentic nature might end up being a hindrance for some one. I wonder if it drives people to transform into masochists.
I have come to the conclusion that its not that most of us don't have the perspective of the authentic life, it's how much courage we can muster to live it.
JEB, in reply to your PS:
Obama's campaign does seem to yearn for this said authenticity, but I am skeptical of its ability to maintain authenticity once the pressure is heightened. The recent "stepping-up" of criticizing Clinton's campaign isn't helping his case. Nevertheless, like they say in hope-land, let's wait and watch.
everything is a beginning.best to be what we are,least expect others to understand.
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