There are all kinds of things that you and I cannot explain out there and I used to think that this was generally confined to the paranormal...You know...ghosts, UFO sightings, government conspiracies, the popularity of the movie "Titanic" and the singer Celine Dion and the likes.
It occurs to me however that we should also be looking closer to home. The human condition itself...living, breathing, walking and talking are singularly not incredibly complex when you look at it, but when placed together with other humans doing the same thing something quite amazing can occur.
Sometimes you can feel it...the electricity in the air. If I walk into work and the place is on a downer I feel it to the point where it hurts... So, I go the opposite way and try to lift it. It's empathetic to me to work for the collective which in turn works for me. If they're happy, I'm happy. I have incredible social survival skills which allow me to tune in to what "the collective" needs to get the job done which therefore also fulfills my need. To some this may be called "pandering" or "kissing arse" to others it may be management skills, to some a new age theorem long since dead. It's all the same to me....a requirement to be met.
It's a singular purpose brought together by multiple ideals that I'm talking about and it's quite magical. Not in the Harry Potter teenage angst way but in the "Why does an object do the things it does?" kinda way. It fascinates me. Human psychology itself hangs in the balance of ideals made by the collective rather than one singular cell or organism and yet it takes a couple of solid ideas from singular brains to devise a collective.
No...I haven't been smoking pot...Just very philosophical today. I'm a social philanthropist who has a systematic weakness of empathy and I guess I picked that up from life's little journeys thrown at me in a very random and curious manner.
What sparked off this post???...I can understand connections made when people are face to face. You know, finishing someones sentences is something that doesn't happen too often but DOES happen. Why? Body language, a clear purpose of conversation and meaning, and a like minded personality.
Today, a friend continued a conversation by Facebook without any hints, gestures or pre-determined efforts on my part and without me even having pieced together sub-text in my own thoughts of why I'd posted a picture on my page, I didn't even realise until later...Is that even possible?? Face to face, yes. Over the magical interweb?? I did not know that was even possible.....
I think it's safe to say that we are all far more connected than we realise or choose to see. When forming bonds, we sub-consciously choose people who are similar to ourselves. Whether it be intellectual affirmation (background, language, commonality of beliefs) or physical ( height, eye colour, posture, gestures), we choose with a singular purpose... to meet our expectations and needs (Maslow's hierarchy of needs).
I sound like a mad scientist right now and I don't mean to but I'm typing whilst my thought process allows so bear with me.
It's pretty cool really. To think that your life is surrounded by a pre-requisite of like minded people with a common strength is pretty spectacular. You may not be able to quantify it like you can looking at the moon and stars or seeing a new life emerge but it's what we don't see that should also make us wonder and impress us.
The close bonds that we form in any instance are the one's to wonder at. How someone else can "get" us is pretty much what it's all about. So for those of you who are huge "facebook friend" collectors....How many of those people that you added actually really KNOW YOU?? How many contact you on a regular basis with more than a "cute pic" remark?? Why not have a spring clean of your collection and sort the "friends" from the "not so much". It's not a status symbol to have 875 facebook friends in fact, on the contrary, that would suggest to me that you don't know yourself well enough to know who your real friends are.
We're all kinda like onions......*reeling at how immature and uneducated that one sounds*...peeling back the layers of our lives is what we do when we get to know each other. The layers can be barriers, containing traumatic events and horrors which we'd sooner forget than have someone try to cut through. They can be like protective shields that secure us in our own skins and stop us from feeling enormous hurt from past and present. It's only our needs that keep the barriers there. The good stuff spills out automatically because we don't fear it.
When we feel at ease, we help to peel back a layer and in turn let something of ourselves release into the ether, helping us to move forward. I never realised that about myself until now. Like most people, I've built barriers around the complexities of life which I choose to forget and felt that I was inevitably protecting my arse from any serious harm in doing so.
As far as friends go, I stay true and loyal to my close friends and anything after close friends can wait in line for my allegiance.
The human condition and circumstance IS a wonder of the world. Lets try to use part of our busy schedule during the day to re-connect with those we are closest to. Being independent isn't enough. It's great until you realise that once again your sitting at home, alone with your cat (crazy cat lady scenario) or a TV show you care nothing about...
And in case you were wondering, Confucius say " Listen to Bridget...And your life will be full of joy...."
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