Fame and fortune or values?

     I have stated many times that we live in a world made of plastic perceptions. We are infected with “God-knows-how-was-made” examples of wealth and that’s the cornerstone for making us crave for what others poses. And the media (regardless of the environment) is so keen into pushing us there… Because craving increases figures, of all types.

[listen to: Christina Aguilera – Castle walls (dubstep remix)]

     By nature, we – as humans – tend to sign up to the concept of following. We say: “I found my role model” or “I want to be rich when I grow up” or “He’s got what I have always wanted, thus I will follow the lead, to get me there“.

     Do we see anything strange among the above statements?

     Well… Let me tell you my point of view. There’s no free will there…

     At birth, each and every one of us is already unique. We come to Earth with a set of skills, ideas, wishes and dreams, but we forget about them once we take our first breath here.

     As kids, we’re being taught the grounds of following; we are being encouraged to do what others do. The question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” most of the times reveals the already-imposed pattern: “A doctor/ a fireman/ CEO/ a rich guy”. We never say “I want to be myself”, because society imprints its own lenses in a kid’s eyes.

     As teenagers, we start to get an idea about how thing works. But we already follow: we follow fashion trends, play games we don’t agree with and join circles that don’t share similar interests – just to fit in with the cool kids – and we’re already afraid to expose our own thoughts, for not being rejected by the group we hardly made an entrance in. In school (at least in my country, but I bet there are many more with the same prejudice-based predefined system), if we dare to be creative and bring a new idea to the table, we would rather be looked down on and kicked out of the classroom, for being a rebel. If, God-forbid, we speak our minds and bring counter arguments to a teacher, our parents are being summoned for having a hard-to-handle, troublesome kid, with a behavior disorder – that needs to definitely be corrected.

     By the time we get enrolled in our first job, our path is already decided by “a higher-power”: the plastic society has certain requests; only people with highly put connections and/ or diplomas get hired (though this could easily be just material to use on the throne of your bathroom);  bosses fear people who don’t share their views; colleagues look for nothing but competition. And so, we are being instructed to follow a set of rules we never believed in. Revenue is what counts the most and employees are just numbers on a list of jobs that may become available at any given moment.

      Criticism (not a constructive advice), envy, ruling, manipulation, greed and lack of care are the ones to have the highest ranking on the market, in nowadays society. Thus, while being treated as such, one gets the first idea about having their own business, to become so wealthy that they will not have to serve despots any longer, to buy everything the heart may desire and show off to the world.

     But what about values? Where did they go? Why did we let them slip through our fingers? Why don’t we try to focus on them (at least once we reach 25+ years of age – a stage I believe is the most appropriate to start thinking for ourselves if we didn’t get there before)? Why are we so stubborn to cling to gathering fading assets, instead of wishing for a better world?

     I am no one to criticize the family one grows up in, but that doesn’t mean I have to let myself led by predefined lines… As, sometimes, people fail at providing the proper guidelines… But maybe I’m just a dreamer without a ground…

     Just think for a moment, before you ask a/ your kid what they want to become when they grow up. Would you like them to become a masses-follower and use imposed concepts or would you rather want them to use their brains, in a continuous exercise to becoming the best version of themselves? And have humanity, compassion and love for others as a ground?

     I know I would love my kids to say “I want to be me and to bring beauty to this world!”

Love,
A.

Photo credits: Google