Culture

Thinking about a statement I’ve heard this morning and its implications.

“Culture is a tool developed by humanity to cushion itself against the harsh backdrop of reality. In a technology driven culture we are constantly pushed to reward ourselves.” (I think I heard Jeff Bridges’ voice saying this but can’t verify).

Bullet point thoughts: This is exhausting in the senses that

• For every reward there is a cost. This kind of culture can create a drain on both tangible and intangible resources.

• It creates within us a sense of continual deficit. Our physiology becomes conditioned to believe we are always operating from a place of desolation. That creates unhealthy and neurotic strivings.

• These strivings put a strain on relationships. It can cause us to look to other humans to fill the voids we feel.

• It begets yet another culture which is a culture of distrust and cynicism. When others fail to fill our voids we then believe them to be inherently bad or intentionally harmful.

• In the advancing understanding of epigenetics it has been found that mothers who give birth pass down to their children their previous 2 years worth of emotional and mental experiences.

Whew! If ever we needed to go against the grain its now.

In all of these regards I want to be counter cultural.

You and I may not be Nobel Peace Prize winners. We may not ever travel much. But, in light of this I am convinced that we can change the world by simply acknowledging all that we are and making a habit of that.