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September 05, 2010
Got balls?
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"Friend me?"
Whoa. Life sure got smallish, wimpy and squeaky fast.
"Nice guy/lady--just don't get in a foxhole with him/her". We hope that no one has ever said or thought this about you--but it's likely that they already have. We live in a world where about 98% of the time wimpiness and lack of courage are rationalized, stylized, and sold to us as "smart" or "prudent" and even as a "right".
Americans, too, of course. For all our bluster, many of us get weaker, more insubstantial, and more irrelevant every day. We don't meet and talk. We rarely look anyone in the eye. Instead, we type and text, day in and day out: skittish mini-critters running on shiny little treadmills in cages set behind screens and tubes.
Squeak-squeak.
Indeed, Technology has insulated--rather than "unleashed"--many of us. Is this all there is? Dang! Busy but dazed and confused? Whoa. Life sure got small and squeaky fast.
Squeak-squeak, you losers.
"Are we not Men?" Historically, all humans (not just Yanks in de-evolution stages) have routinely sidestepped truth, our real beliefs, and initial urges of loyalty to others. We mean loyalty as automatic and instinctual. Bordering on tribal, almost a pang, and often directed blindly, this "sticking" is the Mere Base Rent you pay for just being here, forming relationships, and taking up space on the planet. It's not "extra credit" or "gravy". You don't get points.
Loyalty can be to true friends based on history--or to virtual strangers out of a sense of justice and quick detection of bs. It is the support and allegiance owing to anyone who we know in a flash, and in our deepest and best selves, deserve our immediate aid and good offices because of fairness, past ties, a promise or an understanding.
It is always situational. You either get it--or you don't.
"Are we not Men?" Welcome to the House of Pain, Mr. Prendick.
Well, hey, at least everyone's doing it--and been doing it for all of recorded history. No shame at all, right? You made average. You're "living small"--but at least you're a true generic. A big relief.
And if you're really and truly in the other 2%, congratulations! But here are two key questions:
1. Do you really know who (a) at work and (b) in your life will "stick" when you need their support?
2. Do you even have to ask them for help--or do they lie in the weeds when you need them the most?
Our advice. Once a week, use your common sense, your passion, or ideally both together, to support someone who deserves it then and there. But do it whether or not it's convenient, or in your interest, to support him or her. (If you can't think of or identify many day-to-day examples of this--at work, in the community, or in the streets--we feel sorry for you. No need for you to ever to read this blog again. You won't get it--not one word.)
You'll not only get scads back. You'll start to learn who you really are.
Posted by JD Hull at September 5, 2010 11:59 PM
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