"Progress takes away what forever took to find" - Dave Matthews Band
I have loved this quote for a long time - I've been obsessed with DMB for a long time too so that's no real surprise I suppose. But I don't often look at this quote and see how it can apply in my life ...
One way to look at this is to re-word it to say 'Society hampers free thought'. Now I am not trying to go all anti-government on you, but just think about it. Progress can come in many forms but one of the major forms I would argue is society. We went from random groups of hunter-gatherers, to cities, to countries - all of this accomplished through the establishment of societies. So, the progress of humans I would argue is society based. Now, excluding nudist from this hypothetical discussion - Do you question why you put on a shirt in the morning? I know I don't - but why don't I? I mean, yes, it can keep me warmer, etc. but the main reason, if you think about it, is probably to cover yourself up. Now, why do you do that? Because you don't want to be seen naked or because it is the societal norm to do so? Society has become so ingrained into the human consciousness that it's inconceivable for me to even think about walking around without a shirt on. So ... society basically ended my free thought on the subject. It didn't completely take it away - I mean, I can still question why I put on a shirt, but I'm still going to put one on most likely.
Another way to look at it is to say 'what forever took to find' stands for happiness. So, I could re-word it then to be 'Societal pressures take away happiness'. This is more why I started thinking about this quote actually. See, I have recently come to the conclusion that I am going to focus more on being happy and doing what makes me happy. I am not going to set out to hurt people or anything, nor am I going to purposefully do things to hurt others, but I am going to turn the focus from making others happy to making me happy. I am not going to focus so much on what 'society' says is right or wrong and focus on what I say is right or wrong. See, I do honestly feel like, in my life, that societal pressures have taken away a lot of my happiness. The society in America dictates what is the 'normal' size, the 'normal' hair colors, etc., etc. Well, I am not a size zero, and never will be; I like tattoos (I have five and counting) and crazy hair colors and expressing myself in those ways make me happy. But if I do show off my tattoos or wear all black or if I dyed my hair crazy colors then I would be labeled a social outcast, have a hard time getting a job and therefore paying my bills, eating, living, etc. So, in deciding that the year 2013 is the year I start putting me first, I have basically set myself up against society. Scary? Heck yeah! But I for one am no longer going to let progress take away what it took me forever to find.
So - What's your progress? What took you forever to find?
No comments:
Post a Comment