Here I am, once again, writing this post on my laptop computer in my bedroom, listening to Schubert's String Quintet in C, having just had a nourishing meal and sitting in front of a small fan heater, wearing a pink dress and black sweater and tights. I have little real responsibility in life, no one is forcing me to do anything that I do. I study because I choose to, and I have chosen my desired career path. (Incidentally I am following in my father's footsteps, but that was through no pressuring by my family and entirely my own choice.) I have everything I could ever need, and most of what I could ever want, within easy reach. And what's more, I have ways to eventually get the money to buy almost anything I want. I exercise when I choose to, and only with the goals of health and fitness, I have more clothes than I need, I buy groceries at the supermarket and read books and watch movies and listen to music and write blog posts at my leisure.
I don't think I'm wrong in saying that my situation in life is similar to a lot of people who live in first-world countries. Oftentimes sure, we feel like we HAVE to do the things we are doing, and that we can't get what we want or do what we want because we can't afford it or don't have time, etc. But frankly that is utter nonsense. If we really focused on it, we could do almost anything we wanted. And most of us can certainly get everything we need. We live in places where shopping can be considered a pastime or activity - as something to do rather than something that facilitates getting what we need. I am as guilty of this as anyone, and it can be enjoyable to go on a "shopping expedition" to find the best or personal favorite version of whatever it is that we need. I am also guilty of buying things I don't really need. We are all guilty. And what's more, I am sure this blog will be "hypocritical" to these ideas and that I will do things like product reviews, and show and write about the things that I own. We can't get away from it.
This is an age of humankind where most of us live like pet hamsters, or domesticated dogs, with all of our needs taken care of. We're easily fed, exercised (hopefully, though this is often a matter of personal motivation), clothed, housed, etc. by the customs of the society around us...we have jobs that provide us with money and we use that money to buy the things we need to survive, and buy more things to keep us occupied and happy. If we don't have a job, then there are social services to help us find jobs and slot into our place in this society so we can live as the others do.
Humans tend to only reflect about how we are when something forces us to, or when something major and often devastating happens to provoke our thoughts. We see footage of wars on television, or movies that show us how impoverished some people in the world are, and realize that there are still "wild dogs" of humankind out there, homeless and owner-less, fighting tooth and nail for their survival with no choices in life. People who are dying because they can't get what they need, or because they are fighting to keep their country's lifestyle the way it is. People who are forced to work their bodies until exhaustion and malnourishment. People with no access to clean water, food, clothing, shelter, healthcare...not to mention any of the domestic comforts we use every day, from the Kleenex tissues we blow our noses into and other disposable hygiene products to MP3 players and cell phones. Things that we do not even consider luxuries.
There is nothing we can do about where we were born into this life or how we have lived. I am not writing this to evoke self-loathing, but rather, enlightenment. A realization of how happy and carefree our mindset and attitude towards life should be.
We cannot change our station, but we can make sure that we appreciate our position in life, and do as much as we can to help those born into a struggling way of life.
We can try to stop being so consumerist, to stop wanting things that we don't really need.
And to go along with that, we can devise ways to still do some good for others by making use of the inevitable consumerism in our society like organizations such as TOMS and (PRODUCT)RED have done, or support "ethical fashion" like Seamly.co, or People Tree, to try to eliminate the excessive waste the clothing industry produces.
We can recognize that our actual needs amount to very little in comparison to what we actually own or are able to readily access. That regardless of where we are, life is full of beautiful things, things you don't have to buy. Earth is a beautiful place. We might appreciate these things more if we didn't focus so much on trivialities.
We can stay mindful of this as we go on living our tomorrow, our future, and try to make better decisions.
We can treat all of our fellow human beings with kindness and compassion - or, failing that, at least not be purposefully unkind to anyone.
And maybe, we can produce creations that make our fellow humans reflect on themselves and their lives.
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