Symptoms Of Our Days

Loneliness In The World Of Connectivity

"The perfect dictatorship would have the appearance of a democracy but would basically be a prison without walls in which the prisoners would not even dream of escaping. It would essentially be a system of slavery where, through consumption and entertainment, the slaves would love their servitudes. " Aldous Huxley

We are so connected. Every day I can check in with most of my friends and family and children and ex-wives (unless I blocked them) and know what they are doing, or eating for a meal, or what gig they are at and even, albeit it’s only sometimes and usually only happiness is shown, what they are feeling.

People don’t normally post pictures of themselves sucking back a six-pack of Cabernet Sauvignon in bed with a gallon of ice cream. We, humans, don’t tend to broadcast our moments of despair. We don’t share the darkness.

Everything is puppies and kittens and smiles.

The bigger the front the bigger the back. 

This is an expression I learned when I was studying Shiatsu.

I think you all get the gist.

In Shiatsu we diagnose the kyo and the jitsu of the energy in each meridian within the body of a patient.  Kyo can best be described as the inner weakness or deficiency and jitsu is the drive to protect and resist.

Ray Davies, of The Kinks, was onto something when he wrote 20^th Century Man back in the ’70s.

“This is the age of machinery

A mechanical nightmare

The wonderful world of technology

Napalm hydrogen bombs biological warfare

This is the twentieth century

But too much aggravation

It's the age of insanity

What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem

Ain't got no ambition

I'm just disillusioned

I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't want, I don't want to be here”-Ray Davies

But here we are in the 21^st Century and things have not improved. Humans are still overconsuming, looking for the next thing, filling the emptiness with fast fashion, fast love, and fast food.

Some are just filling up their egos and bank accounts so they can keep building up that Big Front to ensure they can avoid looking at that Bigger Back.

We look for things to fill the holes. What is the next thing?

The rollercoaster of life is going to throw us some screwballs that can mess us up at times.

Life is not all joy. We need to embrace all of our feelings. All the feelings.

Social fragmentation, disconnection from family, and 25% of Australians live on their own.

Don’t get me wrong, we can all make that choice to live alone, if it suits you.

We are tribal creatures. We are primates. Most of our treasured moments were not spent in solitude.         

We forget that we have everything right here within us and around us. We forget that we are all connected and that everything is connected to us. We are not separate from nature.

We are nature.

Some of you may have had an out-of-body experience via meditation or a magic plant or medicine, you know you have felt this in your heart and soul. Close your eyes and hold onto that thought and that beauty. Smile inwardly, and outwardly, and then make a connection.

Some are lucky enough to have this beauty within with no help at all. You rare birds, you. Many of our Indigenous brothers and sisters are able to understand this via ancestral knowledge and ceremony.

Go walk barefoot.

Call an old friend.

Visit someone who pops into your mind.  I miss the drop-in. The surprises and how a day could shift if someone knocked on your door. Today, it is frowned upon by most people. How about you?

Hello, in there, hello.

If the thought has blossomed, then go smell the flowers by acting on it.

Many people who have been swallowed up by loneliness are then struck down by depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and ill health.  Books on trauma and depression and mental health flood our social media feeds and the bookshelves.

Disconnection from the community and nature plays a big part in the mental fragility of our population.
Sometimes we need to go solo, but that is not loneliness.

That is just being alone.

This is the 21^st Century.

We can find joy again.

We can find love again.

It’s right outside your window.  

It’s right in the middle of your chest.

Maybe it is right where you left it last.

Open it up and you will find a treasure.

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.”

Carlos Castaneda

(Note: All photos @ PWB 2007)