Last summer now seems to have had an air of Great Gatsby-ish endings, and now a bittersweet cooler summer wind blows. The warmth still reaches us, by human means now, not accouterments, and we need one another now more than ever to keep warm. We are indeed all connected, and those butterflies moving their wings in some distant land, touch us with cloudbursts, even destructive storms.
People in the UK are having more sex. Humans in the US are renting more DVDs via Netflix. Children are staying home and hanging out with their parents instead of attending summer camp. And guess what, we might end up happier for it all. Perhaps people are better off without the therapy, botox and stuff. Maybe the marriages that were based on nothing needed to end. Perhaps earning money instead of it somehow miraculously arriving via pyramid swap flip shorting means more and we enjoy more now. I know I am not going to miss the "houses that felt like hotels with no souls" as my daughter used to say.
I keep thinking about that Talking Heads song from two decades ago in which he sings about his beautiful car and his beautiful wife...and know that we always already knew all this. The money and the things are not who we are. Look at people who had it all, and when they are no longer with us, it becomes evident that all that mattered was who they touched, moved, left behind...the human side.
Why can't we bring the human side into all of our relationships in the future, even that one we have with money? If we thought more about how we spend and earn and invest touches others, perhaps we could actually make those changes we need to make in this world. Why keep arguing about global warming when we all know we feel better when we can breathe clean air and eat food which actually tastes like something real? Porn will never satisfy us like true love does, and getting something for nothing means that, in the end, you are still left empty inside.
Not only was there no there there, even those of us who did stop and try to think through how to live a better life, were tempted, and gave in at times. It was so easy, so right there in front of us.
So let's stop the blaming and get on with the making it whole again. Stop the denial and look one another in the eyes and be honest with ourselves and those around us. No one is perfect. But we all have the ability to evolve.
Love is free. And it is all around you. And it is the only thing that lasts. So try it.