The 21st Century Paradigm
Isolation
for my salvation
equals alienation
for the nation.
Comments
There is a really quite selfish pleasure in solitude. I enjoy the times when I can step away from the crowd and the noise and the relentless bombardment of life and enjoy peace, tranquility and solitude. Sometimes the only way to heal is to see ourselves and the only way to do that is without distraction.
J. x
I know a little bit myself of the Eurasian paradigm. I will cautiously say that sometimes collective societies seem (seem) to be functionning more harmoniously than individualistic ones when dealing with certain things. But that's only partially right. I can't offer an educated analysis either. I think we can agree there's a controversy in this as there is in everything.
Thank you for taking the time Rachel!?
Mae
elPintor
Sat 20th Jul 2019 20:35
I'm sure I could ramble a bit here, Mae..
Looking at my own life and how desperate people are to reach out, I wonder if most of us know how not to be alone.
It might be a cultural trait, truthfully. Maybe the idea of independence against all odds divides us against ourselves. Maybe that's only my short-sighted view on the matter.
To offer a bit of reference to what I'm saying, someone brought up to me the idea of individualist vs. collectivist cultures. I can't offer an educated view on the matter. But, I do know that, between the Western culture where I'm from and the Eurasian culture in which I reside, there is a difference that is remarkably apparent to even an untrained eye.
Maybe, sometimes, saying "friend" makes it so )
Rachel
Rachel you're absolutely right. And not all internetic connections are meaningless. The words came to me amidst a discussion, so I was in that zone when I wrote it. That was my point, I just put the words down! I very well know I am a part of this as much as anybody. Nothing is ever either pitch-black or fluffy cotton-white. After all, that's why we are here, that's why we write at all. Communication. And we do it! On a site! I do see the irony! I don't judge, I do observe! And what I see is that this very alienation that starts with the afforementionned controversy is yet another manifestation of that thirst for communication! Regrdless of the negative outcome, which is not absolute at the end of the day!
And I confess it bears a little bit of myself and my personal tendency to seek solitude. As a perfect exhibit of that paradigm I may be loud on WOL but not so much in real life.
Thank you for liking and commenting dear Rachel, I'd love to hear more of your thoughts!?
Mae
elPintor
Sat 20th Jul 2019 17:09
"Almost friends"...
That word gets thrown around so much it is in danger of becoming meaningless, much like "love" or any other word that should be reserved for truly special experiences.
Thanks for the in-depth comment on your post--honest and well-considered communication helps to enhance the flavor of the site )
Rachel
Haha! Thank you Trevor!I It came up almost accidentally in a conversation I recently had with Devon Brock in the comment section under another poem I recently wrote it's called, "The Benefits and The Perils".
If you read the dialogue you'll get an idea.
Now I'm terrible at analyzing but I'll give it a shot cause I know how you feel! I've liked many pieces even though I didn't understand them!
So, my point here is that when the individual chooses solitude and alienates themselves from the rest of the people around them and that happens in a massive scale it becomes a social norm.
Now "the nation" may imply that I'm talking about the U.S. of A. If I'm not mistaken the American people refer to themselves as "The Nation", not unlike many people from any country do. But I am NOT referring to USA! Or else I'd have it in capital "T" and capital "N" .
What I mean by "the nation" is the entire body of a nation, any nation, a country and its society. People getting detached and alienated among themselves and not a country alienated from the rest of the world. (Always in a privileged, developed environment). This isolation of the individual I think is an aftereffect of the controversy that the social media cause.
I have a thousand friends in "Social Medium X" ! Most of them are perfect strangers who on the other hand daily claim they're crazy about me, they dig me so much even though they know so little about me! Ain't that swell! So I sit home all day, tending to my garden of acquaintances growing them to some day be my friends while I have no life outside the net. The "almost friends" phenomenon. You have a thousand friends? You're clearly popular and yet you never meet people, real people in the flesh. And those virtual friends are really strangers, so you never "go all the distance" with them. You keep them at arm's length because at the end of the day, they're strangers and you just never know!
Thanks for liking and commenting dear Homer?
Mae
Mae, I don't fully understand this but that doesn't stop me liking it. Thanks
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Mae Foreman
Sat 27th Jul 2019 20:39
The way I see it there has to be a balance. Enjoy solitude and peace and be comfortable alone as well as be open to people! Thank you dear Jason! ?
Mae