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Visionaries
Sep. 17th, 2007 08:02 amOn Saturday, I got into an irritating circular argument with a person who just wanted to gripe about life and times in America. His main complaint was that people are too focused on money and status, those typical individualist objectives.
On the one hand, I could have agreed with him, but then the discussion wouldn't have been all that interesting. He could be right, that a large sector of the American population is (myopically) focused on just money and status (tedious subjects to discuss, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gfrancie recently pointed out).
On the other hand, and perhaps I'm optimistic in this belief, but I believe that most people are actually looking for ways to make their lives more meaningful--a search that requires going beyond money and status. And it's entirely possible to surround oneself with Americans that have much more interesting and diverse values. I'm fortunate enough to have developed many such friendships.
Perhaps this particular person (I don't really know him from a stranger on the street) is feeling isolated, or, like some people I know, began his career with those two things as his objectives and is now experiencing their hollowness and meaninglessness. I had to cut off the conversation because it started to bore me--these sorts of discussions have always made me feel impatient and I still don't know how to change the tone of the discussion to maintain my interest and make the discussion meaningful. (ironic, no?)
Conversations based on such gripes make me wonder--so what are you doing to change things? What's your vision for the future, and how will you try to get there? How many people share your vision, and how do you connect with them? (the internet, for instance, is a great way to connect) What are your dreams, and who do they involve? I have little patience for most cases of helplessness, because usually there is something that one can do to change, even if the change is a miniscule thing. Why not live your own dreams and find others who share those dreams?
Maintaining that balance between having a vision and striving for it, and yet remaining pragmatic, is difficult. But developing a vision can make life so much richer.
On the one hand, I could have agreed with him, but then the discussion wouldn't have been all that interesting. He could be right, that a large sector of the American population is (myopically) focused on just money and status (tedious subjects to discuss, as
gfrancie recently pointed out). On the other hand, and perhaps I'm optimistic in this belief, but I believe that most people are actually looking for ways to make their lives more meaningful--a search that requires going beyond money and status. And it's entirely possible to surround oneself with Americans that have much more interesting and diverse values. I'm fortunate enough to have developed many such friendships.
Perhaps this particular person (I don't really know him from a stranger on the street) is feeling isolated, or, like some people I know, began his career with those two things as his objectives and is now experiencing their hollowness and meaninglessness. I had to cut off the conversation because it started to bore me--these sorts of discussions have always made me feel impatient and I still don't know how to change the tone of the discussion to maintain my interest and make the discussion meaningful. (ironic, no?)
Conversations based on such gripes make me wonder--so what are you doing to change things? What's your vision for the future, and how will you try to get there? How many people share your vision, and how do you connect with them? (the internet, for instance, is a great way to connect) What are your dreams, and who do they involve? I have little patience for most cases of helplessness, because usually there is something that one can do to change, even if the change is a miniscule thing. Why not live your own dreams and find others who share those dreams?
Maintaining that balance between having a vision and striving for it, and yet remaining pragmatic, is difficult. But developing a vision can make life so much richer.
