Tuesday, August 17, 2021
The romantic ideal that you have a soulmate, a dream career, a true calling, or a fulfilling purpose has fueled the self-help industry and created a real disservice to humanity. But life isn’t about “finding” these ideals. It’s about connecting more deeply with others, and social media is not “connecting” us the way we think it is. Social media has encouraged us to filter out the struggles of what makes life meaningful. But sharing hardships, through conversation, is key to real connection and meaningful community. Keeping your chin up and pretending that everything is “fine” merely denies you the chance to connect with others in more meaningful and insightful ways.
Sharing your stories of struggle deepens the groove of love, and helps us to make more sense out of this experience we call “life.” Sharing your fears, questions about what it means to be a person, and your longings and struggles also deepens your own journey to self-knowledge. It makes you a better student of what love has to teach you about yourself and about life. Human existence, in so many ways, is suffering, yet miraculously, the suffering is a passage way into self-knowledge; and sharing that story of suffering is a pathway to human connection. Love is a classroom, rather than the perfection of an ideal that there is somehow a “happily ever after.”
Reconnect with those who are close to you by moving beyond the chit-chat, and share your inner story. Express yourself from the inside, and get curious about what makes others every bit as “insane” or “weird” as you are! We are all learning about life through our interpersonal struggles, not by filtering out what makes us “successful.” Ask the hard questions of those you love. Share the stories that matter, so we can all learn to create a better, more realistic, and a more meaningful existence on the planet.
Start each day by learning something about yourself!