your romanticized solitude and your overstuffed melancholy will be the end of you. your devotion to desperation is almost like feeding your soul with poison. the idealization of the individual being good on its own is the modern tragedy. it creates a generation that doesn’t know about being home sick. disconnected from reality. disconnected from pain. disconnected from empathy. disconnected from trust. disconnected from each other. the price of the dolled image of solitude is putting you inside your houses, alone, isolated from human connection, so that the only way you can feel connected to others can be through buying things. the secret they don’t want you to know? people need people.
yes, you have responsibilities toward other people. no, you are not cool for saying “this is who i am”, “i don’t care about anyone else”, or “i only need myself”. you are a part of something bigger than yourself. the later you accept this the longer you will suffer. “i don’t owe anyone anything”, yes you do. you owe the friend who said “text me when you get there” a text. you owe kindness to the kids to prove them that it still exists, that there are still things worth getting better for. you have the responsibility to ask people you love how they are doing every now and then. no you’re not an individual who is outside of the commune. no, that doesn’t mean you’re free. it is quite the opposite. you’re less free every time you get fooled by the “you don’t need anyone, you don’t owe anyone anything” propaganda. because people need people. all the time.
the same structure that makes you believe you don’t need anyone, the same structure that takes away your ability to trust people, connect with people, befriend people, and care for people is going to sell you trust through baseless modern day therapy. it takes away your ability to trust and love people so that you can pay someone to listen to your stream of thoughts and pain like a friend. without judgment. the same structure locks you inside your house behind closed doors so that you can only feel connected to other people through purchasing things. but all of this will feel odd. it will never fill the void. because it lacks what’s human. sympathy. that’s why, people need people.
“emotions are not a luxury. they are complex helping hands extended in the midst of the struggle for existence.” (António Damásio)
but don’t worry. the road teaches you how to walk. you first become human when you think you are going to die from nonphysical pain, but you don’t. because if you never go to sleep with the sun with something aching inside you, you can’t make it alive. so cling to that. you lose yourself because you reject to accept the suffering. you become arrogant because you refuse to feel shame. you are avoidant because you build your walls too high. your pieces are shattering in different places of your life because you refused to cry that night, when you should’ve cried. because it ached. and when you love, scream. scream it inside. scream it outside. but accept it and live it. unconditional and unrequited sincerity is the pedestal love is sitting on. life beats right there. because people need people.
Leave a comment