May 29, 2009

Think About The Box

Think outside about the box. That's what it said, the little piece of paper I picked up in the store. If I had to sum up everything I am thinking about in America, that would be it; it's the box.

It's the box that tells us success is achievable through some jobs but not through others, that happiness is comparable and purchasable, that celebrities are more valuable that everyone else, that doing is better than being, and that we have to have running water, electricity and bills.

Why don't we pursue happiness in all of our jobs regardless of how "prestigious" that job may appear? Why aren't we happy with what we have, not what we will have or when we have what someone else has? Why don't we turn off the news, movies and shows forever and start making our own lives so incredible that it makes all those things look silly? Why can't we just be happy with sitting in silence, with ourselves and others? Why must we always have something to do, somewhere to go, something to play, or else we get bored? Why have we forgotten that in almost all of the countries of the world, people live every day with no running water, no electricity and no bills? Why do we pity these people when we should pity ourselves?

There are people in the world who love their jobs, love what they have, don't want, don't covet, don't follow the media, live incredible lives, are never bored, love silence, can be with others and be alone and love them both, can do something or nothing and be content, and live every day fetching just enough water to live, use solar or self-powered utilities and don't have possessions that require any bills at all.

We shouldn't pity these people because if paradise is an idyllic place or state, they are living in it everyday. We have been inside the box so long we forgot what we have always wanted.