Have We Lost Our Humanity?

This is a question that most people don't even consider. Most of the time, I would say, we go about our daily life and never even think about how distant we are to everyone around us. When we walk down the street and pass by someone, what is our natural instinct? For must people I would say it would be just walk around them without saying a word. Some people may venture far enough to lift their head and node or even say "Hi" as they pass by. But how many people would stop and talk to them? How many would give the other a hug? What about a kiss? Most people who will read this blog may look at these questions and snarl there nose at the idea of getting that close to a total stranger, and to be completely honest, I am right there with you. So I have one more question.

What is wrong with us???

Human beings are social creatures. Despite how solitary you may think you are the simple fact remains that we, as human beings, crave contact with other human beings including physical and emotional interaction. We were meant to be with one another. It is in our DNA. I want you to take a moment and think about "The old days". I'm talking about back when America was still pretty new. Think about the people of that age. We still had much of our culture from England at that time and it was not uncommon to greet someone with a hug or even a small kiss on the cheek. Today, they still greet people with a kiss in Europe, though I suspect that has greatly diminished as well. I once heard of a study that was done on American teenagers compared with teenagers in Europe. They found that coming out of school, American teenagers where all either walking alone barely acknowledging anyone around them, hunched over looking at their cell phones, or if they were in a group, they were not making much contact with the others. The European teenagers, however, were quite the contrast. While they still had some of the same attributes, the researchers noticed that much more people where leaving the school with arms intertwined or holding hands or hugging goodbye. I wish I had a reference for this, but I was only told this by my professor in college. Though I don't have a reference, there are plenty of studies that show the importance of touch. One such being this article from the NY Times.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23mind.html?_r=0

I believe the hesitation we have to be close to another person is primarily instinctive and primal. When we think of the period of the "Hunter Gatherer", or prehistoric time period, it's easy to see why we are hesitant to get close to anything. Back then getting close to another person or any living thing could potentially mean death, and if you think about it, we really haven't evolved much since then. We are still living life watching over out backs and being scared of death. So we trust nothing. And sure, we have good reason with the world we live in.

But just because it is instinctive does not mean it is what we need or really what our body wants. We need each other. We need physical touch. I don't know what it is but there is some sort of energy that is passed from one person to another when you are touched. Don't believe me? Watch this video and listen how these total strangers started to care for the others after just a brief moment of awkwardness.



We are social creatures and need to get back to being social..... And this is coming from one of the most anti social people you may know. I have some work to do.

What does the future hold?

Recently, I have been thinking about my job / career. I had a very good talk with Hannah the other day and think I have figured out some things, or at least think I am in the right direction. I'm going to try and duplicate what we talked about so I am going to start from the beginning.

I have pretty much been working my whole life. When I was 15 I got my first job working at a drive through convenience store in the tiny town I lived in. I started to save money the best I could and I believe I learned the value of money and work. In the subsequent years I have worked as a stocker, waiter, window washer, cart pusher, fast food worker, call center representative, customer support, salesman, cashier, field worker, sand blaster, welder assistant, graphic designer, musician, IT technician, and of course 2 years as a missionary. Work is not a foreign concept to me or maybe better to say I have no idea what life is like without working. Even in the few times when I was not working it usually only took a few days before I was board out of my mind. Most, if not all, of these jobs were not taken in the hopes of finding joy in my work, but were, in fact, taken to pay the bills. What I realized in talking to Hannah is that in the years of working at these jobs I completely forgot or perhaps never learned that you could actually WANT to go to work; that it might actually be possible to go to your job and feel accomplished or feel genuinely happy there. For years my job was just a means to stay alive and hold off until the days off, but I have realized that that is just meager living. I need to find something that fulfills me.

There is a slight problem with this. It has been said that you should find something you are passionate about and make a career out of it. Unfortunately, my three passions in life are my family, music, and art. My family being the most important.

I love music and have actually taken much of my time to learn quite a bit about it. As far back as I can remember I have been playing some sort of instrument. In order to make it in the music industry you really have to be willing to give up quite a bit. One of the biggest things that I have discovered is that you have to give up much of your family life and that is just not something I well ever be willing to give up. So that leave out music, and no, I don't want to teach it either! ;)

With art I would not have to sacrifice my family, however, the pay for any type of artist, graphic or otherwise, is not much to support a family on. The only artists that seem to make a decent amount of money are the ones that have been working at it for years and have established their artistry. I originally thought this would be the best field to go into and actually got a degree in graphic design. The problem here is that everyone is a "graphic designer" or at least thinks they are. When you are a small business owner and you need some graphic work done you are looking for the cheapest way possible. Who are you going to pick; the guy down the street that has played with Photoshop for a while and will make you a logo for free or the graphic designer that is going to charge you $20-$30 an hour? Graphic designers are a dime a dozen and they are all trying to make a name for themselves.

I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I can at least see the direction I should go, and that is encouraging. I'm just confused is all. The good news is that I am hopeful!... Don't ask me tomorrow because that might change, but right now I am good! :)

Your thoughts are appreciated.

~ Ron Beck