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I've been thinking about addictions and what they mean. I think that addictions can be chemical, religious,technological, relational, and many more. I see addictions as a substitute for something good and meaningful in our lives. There's the obvious addiction to things such as alcohol and drugs, taking those when one could have true peace of mind and happiness. Then there's the relational addiction. I've observed married and unmarried people who could be enjoying a meaningful time of singleness or a more meaningful romantic relationship but choose to carry on shallow and even mutually harmful relationships, simply because they believe that there is nothing better out there. Then there's the technological addiction. More and more, people substitute long-distance, electronic interaction for face to face interaction. Well, I guess that kind of obvious, I didn't have to tell you that. I do love things like cell phones, email, and Facebook, but nothing can replace face time with another human being. This impersonal communication is a poor and unhealthy substitute for deep, interpersonal relationships.
I guess this is what I'm getting at- I hate to see people missing out on their true potential, on their true selves, and on what they can really get out of life. When I look around me (and into myself), I see so much distractedness and confusion. But because of our confusion and inner turmoil, we seek the wrong things from the wrong places. We miss out on living a true, honest, and adventurous life because we're so enamored of our shallow relationships, shallow religion and beliefs, etc, etc. I've noticed that people who are going through a difficult time tend to grab onto the closest thing to try to steady themselves. A guy I know recently told me how several of his friends died in a sudden, unexpected accident. He also told me that because of it, he spent the next several days drinking whiskey and popping pain killers. I thought to myself later on, "Wouldn't it have been truer to the memory of his friends to have truly felt the pain of their loss, rather than covering it over? It's like throwing them in the ground with no ceremony." Instead of truly feeling our pain, our frustration, and working it out in a thoughtful manner, we run to things that ultimately harm us. We become self-destructive rather than using our pain to deepen our understanding of ourselves and those around us. People do this with religion also. They substitute a few shallow religious rituals or memes for true and healing spiritual experience. People lie to themselves that a romantic relationship is fulfilling and deny what their hearts are truly telling them- that they long for something more. I think that if we never give ourselves a chance to know ourselves, we settle for a shallow, or harmful relationship, because if we really knew ourselves, we wouldn't settle for something less than what we truly desire. These are all things that I observe and all too frequently participate in (except for the chemical one!). However, I've determined to be more honest with the people in my life, to stop covering up, to stop living lies, to stop denying my deepest desires and needs. Sorry if this seemed a bit disjointed but it's all I've got for now :-p
12:00 PM
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