An oasis of calm....

Archeron

I work on a really busy road in Clondalkin, and start work quite early, usually around 7am. Even at this time, the road is hectic with trucks, cars, coaches and the usual city bustle.

The other day at about 8am, I looked out the window towards some bushes on the side of the road, and two girls, maybe sisters, maybe mum and daughter were stood picking berries off of the bushes and eating them. The scene itself looked so surreal as there were heavy vehicles rushing by, but these two girls just seemed to be wrapped in their own little bubble of calm, and just didnt appear to give a damn about the rushing around of those around them. This really made me smile.

However, it also made me realize that it seems like little moments like this are becoming rarer and rarer now, and I feel that we are losing our ability to just stop for a moment and appreciate the simpler things around us. It seems so many have got caught up in the rat race for better bigger superior products like the newest car, the biggest TV, the house with the most bedrooms and so on. I think thats a sad fact as I do honestly believe we live in a beautiful country and we are surrounded by amazing things.

Since I noticed this, I try now to step aside from all the sh*te that goes with modern life and commuting and so forth, and it really does make you feel, I dont know, fresher, perhaps?

Do you think we're losing our abilities to see the real wonder of the world, or does city life just cause people to be temporarily blinded to this? Perhaps, are our opinions of what is important just changing as we become a more materialistic society?

Samos

Do you think we're losing our abilities to see the real wonder of the world, or does city life just cause people to be temporarily blinded to this?

I think we are inundated with so much useless information and stimuli that we can no longer decide what is worthwhile pursuing and what we should simply ignore. Nowadays, our lives are frittered away by detail. We spend the most fruitful days working to earn money so that we can spend it in retirement when our lives are less valuable. We still have the ability to wonder at the beauty of the world. We just don't realize that we still have it.

Perhaps, are our opinions of what is important just changing as we become a more materialistic society?

Very few of us find the time to consider what really is important in life anymore. We accept on faith that the contmeporary mode of living (commuting, working 9-5, mortgages, sun holidays, fancy cars and houses, etc.) is the right one. So much of the media reinforces this. We see advertisements enticing us to buy the latest gadgets and luxury goods, and insisting that they will make us better people if we comply. The adverts slyly associate these goods with things like popularity, happiness, relaxation and freedom. Of course, none of these necessary psychological amenities is available to buy in the malls. Yet, many of us continue to be duped by the flase association of our forgotten needs with these modern products.

It is as if men had chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. I inplore you to cease accepting the status quo as the only and best way to live. Think for yourself and question everything.

I can see now that happiness does not depend on how much money I have, or if I possess the latest flashy gizmos, or have an exalted place in high society. It depends more on finding the necessary psychological goods: companionship, freedom, contemplation that do not cost a penny, but are yet priceless.