1.) Why people get married.
2.) Why people have children.
3.) Why people have bad taste.
4.) Why people buy into The American Dream.
5.) Why people aren't rioting in the streets regularly.
6.) Why I can pour out my heart and soul constantly in a never ending attempt to relate to humanity, and why it ultimately never works, or merely allows for me to be more easily manipulated.
7.) Why everything is too expensive to allow us to be comfortable or happy for very long.
8.) Why vices are the only means through which we can cope with reality.
9.) Why everything that benefits us in the workforce reflects rather poorly on who we want to be when we're not working.
10.) Why I keep believing that someday these things will make sense if I read enough books and listen to enough records.
I can understand most of these things, as in, I can see why certain things happen. There are some that I'm on the same page with you on. You may not want my take (for which I apologize in advance if I offend), but I feel like sharing it because these are things worth talking about.
ReplyDelete1) I've gotten married twice. The first time I got married because I was convinced that Josiah was my soulmate because (at the time) I believed we had a pure, spiritual love and (in retrospect) I think I was just pleased to meet somebody who was interested in spirituality and I liked the vibe he brought into my life. We were divocred ultimately, but our marriage helped each of us to grow. If we hadn't gotten married, I don't think I would have moved to Seattle, changed many of my viewpoints, broken free of the expectations and baggage of my family/friends at home. And we probably could have done a lot of that without getting married, sure. But it made sense to get married at the time. To declare myself part of something new.
As to why I married Lee - that's more complex. Some of it is practical - as in I want to be able to make medical decisions for him and vice versa. Most of it is because I want to commit to working through the problems we have no matter what, because deep down I know that he and I are already family, and to lose him becuase of my own petulance or capriciousness would be tragic. So being married keeps me honest in that sense. I remember the vows I made when we're at our worst. And we are now officially part of each other's families, which is kind of a glue too. I wouldn't have married him, though, if I didn't think that we couldn't have hacked it as just dating. But I think it does help to solidify the commitment further.
2) There are many reasons why people have children and I think most of them are not good ones, although most of them are quite forgivable, especially seeing as we have probably biological instincts to do so. I sometimes want "my own" children because I'd like to see the mingling of mine and Lee's genes in another being. But given overpopulation that doesn't seem compelling enough so if I ever am in a position to care for a child, I'll probably foster or adopt.
3) This is a hard one, because when I look at it philosophically, I have a hard time figuring out whether "good" and "bad" taste really exist. Of course, to function in normal life I do believe that there is bad taste and when I'm at The Bins I can't even believe all the truly heinous clothing that is manufactured. But what is "taste" if not subjective. Wish I'd taken a philosophy course on Aesthetics.
4) Because it's comforting to have a dream, especially a pre-packaged dream you don't have to think about too hard. And because of commercials and their parents.
5)I understand why you say this, because I feel this sometimes too. But I'd say - Because we're still too comfortable to feel like we can risk everything in protest. When the water/food/oil/tv/internet runs out, then people will riot in the streets. Or maybe they'll all be too numb and just sit in their houses waiting for the world to turn back on.
to be continued...
Okay, my answers probably won't be as eloquent as Jennifer's but here goes:
ReplyDelete1) Multiple choice answer:
a)It seemed like a good idea at the time.
b)I thought love was enough.
c)I thought I was supposed to.
d)I'm a moron.
2) Our biology tells us to reproduce and conserve energy. Fortunately the side effect is that my kid makes me happy. Why people have shitloads of kids is a mystery to me though.
3)Taste is entirely subjective. Gotta respect that other people like stuff you don't.
4)Because people don't think for themselves and realize it's a hoax.
5)Give it a few months.
6)Relating to people is really hard, especially for us introverted/extroverted types who like to go out and have fun and then go home and think WAY too much about every single event that transpired. Being an artist is a blessing and a curse at times.
7)To make sure we suffer properly.
8)Because sometimes it's the only way to make your brain shut the fuck up.
9)Corporations want to own everything, including you.
10) If you're anything like me, you have an unspoken agreement with yourself that everything you do is leading up to some sort of ultimate thing you're going to do, and when that thing happens, it will all make sense.
There you are sir, two cents, paid in full.
I wonder about #5 all the time.
ReplyDelete