Eye-Wall

Posted on October 29, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey

Our world, as most would agree, is a fast-paced, technologically and mechanically complicated one, with a wide assortment of distractions and entertainments from which to choose. We frequently fill our hours playing video games, surfing the web, or watching mindless drama on television or in the movies. And, like most things these days, these amusements come hand-in-hand with an assortment of biased media, propaganda, marketing ads and other claptrap largely intended to overwhelm us and undermine our self-image, making us vulnerable and desirous to purchase the products placed before us – the marketed “solutions” to the fabricated “issue” or “problem”.

Even in the workplace we are often surrounded by spam and urban legends erroneously forwarded to our inbox, interoffice memos, fliers and ads for “lunch specials” or extracurricular activities (massage, anyone?), or any number of other advertisements and all kinds of things… all too often, very little of which is actually necessary to or focussed on the given job. Our mailbox is full of junk mail and coupons intended to get you to spend money in a particular place, and our commutes to and from our destinations are full of neon signs (in the flashing and non-flashing varieties) and billboards every few feet on the highway. Even public restrooms, not long ago a haven from such advertisements, have recently succumbed to peer-marketing-pressure.

Since this constant buzz of information and ads and irrelevant junk is considered the “norm” for much of our world these days, is it any wonder that our personal attention-spans are lacking? Is it any wonder that our emotions and self-esteem often follow suit? When was the last time you had an actual conversation with somebody that extended beyond superficialities of the weather or traffic conditions or “who left the coffee pot in the break-room on all night and where can you find a decent cup of coffee now“? What level of attention do we truly give each other? All too often our conversations are limited to what has become the superficial greeting “how are you?” to which no answer is truly expected or even wanted, and we’re off and verbally running, jumping topic to superficial topic. Occasionally we brave a bit into the realms of truer conversation but even that tends to be fairly limited and interrupted by cell phone calls.

Is there any respite? Is there any end to the bombardment when chaos has become such the status quo that focussed attention on one thing makes many people uncomfortable? Yes, uncomfortable. Uncomfortable to the point of squirming mentally and physically. Uncomfortable to the point that many people require stimulants to calm them down enough to simply pay attention to their given tasks? (I’m still a bit confused about how that works!) Uncomfortable with our own thoughts, our own emotions, our own existence.

There are still personal or familial havens to be found amid the chaos, but our homes are generally not what they once were. How many of us realize the levels of stimulation, of hype, of media and cultural bombardment to which we are daily subjected in order to make conscious decisions or changes to provide an often much-needed respite from it all? How many of us question whether watching mindless or humiliating drivel on TV is actually relaxing or whether reading a book would be a more rejuvenating exercise?

Yet, although some may make the kinds of choices just listed, it really is a matter of perspective on the world. For truly, the chaos and propaganda and attempts at persuasion are merely external manifestations of the people of this world reaching out for their own livelihood. It is the voice of thousands of people speaking at once – but all this chaos, all this noise, really has little to do with each of us individually. It is merely a storm raging around us and has nothing to do with us personally. If we can just realize that and persevere through the initial storm, we may find ourselves in the eye of the storms, surrounded by the howling winds of our cultures and pressures, but calm. Quiet. Peaceful.

There is a silence amid the noise – all we have to do is listen.

Namaste

(Re)Examinations

• ← Ricey Vocabulary
• (slightly) Mischievous →