For most of my life, I’ve had a remarkable ability to get the things I want. As I got older, I started to realize that ‘things’ provide very little satisfaction; largely due to my own inability to find satisfaction in acquisition, as well as being deprived of the non-thing things things that I truly want.
From a very young age, western culture has propagated the lie that ‘stuff’ will make us happy. Kids get shown toy commercials that promise them the latest whatchamacallit will make them happy, cool or envied by their friends. Adults soak in commercials that promise status, admiration and fame if only they had the latest car, designer label or beachfront property. Even education promotes itself with the idea that with the right piece of paper, all of your dreams will come true.
Where are the commercials for the joys of having a happy family – that’s together?
What radio jingle promotes treating others with respect as the ticket to a better life?
Where are the banner ads that show the joys of a home-cooked meal with the ones you love?
Most promotions follow a very simple equation:
“If you get X (that you don’t have) with Y (money you don’t have) you will = Z (A feeling you can never keep)
As I write this, I’m a 38 year-old man laying in bed at 2 in the morning because I had to work late. My house is empty, sans a plethora of pets that I have to feed. The people I love most aren’t here, and it feels cold, hollow and empty in a home advertisers would sell as the ticket to lifelong satisfaction.
For a man that’s gotten every-thing he’s wanted, I’m painfully aware that I’m void of the things I want most in this life.
I want my family to be together – under one roof.
I want to be spoken to with kindness and patience.
I want to be shown affection and love.
I want somebody to ask how I’m doing – and really mean it.
I want to feel my back getting scratched and rubbed because somebody loves me.
I want to wake up in the morning with the people I love.
At 2 in the morning, these are the thoughts that cross my mind.
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