Hello everybody! How are you all doing? So it's been a few months since I've last written and some things have happened in the world. Earthquakes here in there (Japan and I think in the news at the moment it's Utah), that bridge collapse in Minneapolis, very warm weather in Europe, and just plain political drama.
What have others been up to this summer? What are the college and university students up to? What about the retired seniors and maybe even the retired juniors? What are you guys (and girls) experiencing now and what are you thinking about? Are you reconsidering the choices you've made or perhaps you're wishing to do something new?
At the moment things are simply moving along with studies, family, friends, and strangers. I sometimes wonder what it'd be like to know, experience, and understand the life of that person I passed by on the street or seemed to rush by in a car or even went back into his/her house. It got me thinking why, without the nosiness and gossip, people act the way they do?
Is that old lady with the grocery bags managing well or does she need some help? Maybe that guy with the basketball cap, jersey, and shorts wishes life could be a bit different? That girl in the tank top and short skirt...what is she really like? How about that old man who looks like he hasn't smiled for his whole lifetime? Is it just how his face is or is he expressing himself for all to see?
We pass by all these strangers without caring. Of course, it'd be awkward to say: "Hey buddy, what's on your mind?" or "Excuse me, is something bothering you? Could I in someway help?" If you introduce yourself to someone in the "wrong" social setting, they'll probably think you want something "bad" from them.
People think that the people that really know you are only your family and close friends. It makes sense when you see those interviews with counselors or psychologists and they're literally asking the wrong questions and have the personality of a robot. It then happends that your reluctance to express yourself or lack of connection with that counselor or psychologist makes that person need to go to his/her therapist!
It's so bizarre. I think the problem is that we choose to criticize others rather than actually help them. It could also be in the approach. The second party must also be willing to "cooperate". How can a guy in high school suddenly express his feelings to this stranger when he can't do so with his friends? Or that girl in college who hides that she just wants to be a good person but she's afraid to be alone? All of these people don't want to talk about the things that are bothering them so they become the people they dread.
That old grandma wasn't always hunching over and distracted by the cars on the street. That old man didn't have a an injection that forever gave him a frown. Society has a certain "personal space" boundary. It's more of a mental space than a physical one. Although women are always portrayed as either crying all the time (i.e. over-emotional) and men as angry testosterone meatheads , these are what things have become.
So everyone out there, we can get in touch with that negative emotions and thoughts we carry. Don't wake up one day and wonder why you pushed your child away because he/she asked about something from your past. Don't scream at your mom or dad (unnecessarily, of course) saying that they're simply idiots and couldn't understand if they've tried. It's so cliche.
Sure, some parents do things that should be never committed, and in that case, it's quite understandable why a child would be angry. However, why did they do it? The child considers him/herself as a victim. It's similar to that case of the priests now having to pay up to all the children they molested. Sure, they did something nasty. But why did they do it?
We tend to analyze the bad things and blame people for "choosing" such things. What about the neutral or good things? Do we analyze why someone likes oranges? Do we say: "How could you enjoy something that's dead?" Do we think that child who feeds that pidgin is good? Maybe that pidgin will spread disease. Orhow about that football player who wins it for the team? Do we analyze why he would do such a thing, besides it being that "winning is everything"?
Well, that's enough for now... Feel free to comment...
"Dr. John"
