There’s a tension that seems to be all over the place, that we want to be able to be ourselves, to live the way that we choose and we think is right, and we want to be free of this kind of oppressive sense of being judged for being different in some way, to break free of that feeling of “What is normal?”, and you know, “I don’t fit into this sense of normal, and so that’s very uncomfortable.” So say “OK, I don’t need to worry about what’s normal.
I don’t need to follow some notion of what normal is.
It feels maybe when we’re young like it’s like a requirement, that we have no choice, and yet it’s optional to be normal.
It’s not a requirement.
So if we’re able then to break free of this notion of feeling like we have to follow the trends of society and stay within these bounds, so that we’re not outcasts, we can then feel a great sense of freedom and have much more flexibility in how we live our lives, simply not caring what other people think.
But the downside of going in this direction is that when we are too isolated, if we’re just breaking all these social conventions and we’re just generally hated or just considered to be in contempt, contemptible, if people generally just hate us, then it’s very lonely.
It’s very lonely to be ejected from society, to be rejected, to be an outcast, and to somehow have to live through life and all its challenges alone.
And maybe this is one of the most powerful forces that keeps people behaving within the way that is socially acceptable, because it really is frightening to somehow be completely alone and have nobody to be able to turn to.
And as much as sometimes the idea of the lone wolf can be romanticized, glamorized, you know, “The odds were against me, and I kept going with this solitary courage”, and it can become a heroic character in the imagination.
But in reality, usually when people are outcast and alone, they get weaker, not stronger, and fall into various traps and just tend to decline and degenerate into ruin, while those that have a strong network of friends and supporters can be supported through all the difficult times and become stronger and more successful.
So seeing this happen, it’s a very powerful incentive to do whatever it takes to be accepted by society.
But how can we resolve this conflict, having to conform and give up what we think is right in order to be accepted by society, or to reject society but then be left alone? Maybe the best thing we can do is to find our own circle, just a few people, maybe.
Maybe we only need a few people.
I mean, it’s not like anybody needs a whole society.
Nobody needs millions of people to support them.
If we have a small number of people and band together to support each other, then each of these “outcasts”, it seems like they would be getting all the social support they need.
So all we need is a few people.
And as much as there’s a danger to being isolated, completely alone, we can find others who are compatible with what we believe and can live life in this kind of shared rejection from society, a shared independence.
We can be rejected by most, but as long as it’s not all, as long as there’s a few people that we can stick together with, then it seems like we don’t need to fear the general rejection of society.
So I’d be curious to hear what you think about this.
How many people does one person need to be supported?
#support #afewpeople #yourpeople