“I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.” Oscar Wilde, Irish genius.
As we continue during this upheaval that began November of 2008, we almost embrace the simple pleasures. We reminisce of
the days when there were less regulations, when children created their own play dates and organized games and when adults couldn’t be reached 24/7. We didn’t know we had to manage ourselves. We relied on outside institutions to protect us–the government, our insurance firms, our employers, our pensions, even our religious communities. As we have learned, all of our institutions are being deconstructed. Even our bread makers and ice cream makers are now artisanal and double the price. I heard the Good Humor trucks are returning to the streets. I thought, wow, they are back and I can hear that old sound of the ice cream man. Nope, you have to have an app on your phone and tune in for alerts for where you can find the truck.
We are destroying old institutions that we built for another age. We used to give gold watches for 30 years of service. Now we might get 30 months before we need to move on from the job. Few individuals look at jobs as life-long. That is a bygone era as are land lines and guaranteed pensions. All of the systems must be remade–especially the governing systems. Nobody is spared. It just may take some time to affect the change. With at least 37% of the work force freelancing, we are learning to look out for ourselves and plan accordingly. This big change is part of the dying of the former Piscean Age and the entering of the Aquarian Age and the development of the individual. For better or worse, we are being forced to learn individual thinking and not just rely on the collective.
This is not a walk in the park. Since November, 2008, an important destructive transit was put into place. It continues to force the world to change or be changed. Like it or not we can’t ignore it. Our lives have been put into turmoil to help us eliminate systems we have created that no longer serve us. This can be keeping a job, a house, a relationship, stuff etc. Those who insist on hanging on to worn-out ways will feel the sting the most. We wonder why something isn’t working, or keeps repeating when we avoid looking at the deeper value of change. Many of us choose to check out and get out of here. As someone said to me, it seems as if people are “flying” off the planet.
It brings me back to Oscar Wilde and his statement that simple pleasures are the last refuge of the complex. As our worlds become more complex and pressurized, we must consider the simple pleasures of our individual lives. Step back and take a look. Cultivate a few and do them regularly. The world is about to really explode with technology and complexity. We have 8 years left to this transit. The big election to pay attention to is 2024, when we finally elect an individual ready to help us recover from the trauma of the previous 16 years. What a ride! I will still try and find the Good Humor truck.
Thanks Gail for your insightful emails. You always give a different perspective than I receive in my work and I thoroughly enjoy your newsletters, especially your tribute to your son. Blessings on you healing journey as you move forward. My brother died when he was 25 and I was 18. I believe a piece of my Mother died with him. It took her years to recover. Thankfully, you have the wisdom and connection to keep him close and honor his journey knowing you will play together again on another plain.
Gratefully, Karen
Thanks Stephen. We have had a few thousand years of learning the collective or the group direction–be it tribe, religious organization, allegiance to the king. The individual is a fairly new phenomena. We are learning how to see ourselves as individuals with rights–including the pursuit of happiness. This does not take away a need for a sense of community (or the collective) but that the individual is developed, recognized and respected for its rights along with the group. Eventually, we will learn that both are valuable but must work in unity. Part of the individual development is learning to stand on one’s own two feet with accountability for our behavior. It takes times. The USA was formed for this particular time frame to foster the development of the individual. Many would rather cling to the group but society will continue to push us out to learn the lessons of the individual. Regarding the empathic ear, we are outsourcing our care, for better or for worse. It is a transition period so many are in fear or unhappy with the changes all around them.
Greetings Gail, thanks for another thought provoking post. What I wonder about is whether what we truly need is to be more staunchly individual versus seek the support of community. By community, I do not mean the collective, the former of which is personal and intimate versus the latter, which I interpret to be institutional. I’m not suggesting there isn’t merit to individual agency, though I would offer that coming together in mutually-supportive community is equally as important, especially in these alienating times. For those you referenced who are “flying off the planet,” I suspect more than a few were discouraged by a feeling that there was nobody else to lean on, much less lend an empathic ear. Change is inevitable, but the fact human beings were created to be in relationship remains the truth. No man or woman is an island. Thanks for your time.