That's a BRILLIANT insight Ghost! I posted it on our Facebook group and got a lot of responses. Check it out.Ghost wrote:You've hit on something big here, Winston. The physical infrastructure in America is just as spirit-killing as the "spiritual infrastructure," so to speak. The way houses, stores, work places, and others are constructed numb the soul, dim the spirit, and make everything feel disconnected and...I don't know how to describe it. That is how powerful the effect is. When I would go into a shop in China or the Philippines, it felt like it was more integrated into life. Sure, you walk in, you walk out, but it felt more normal. The physical structure of it felt like it belonged with the rest of the infrastructure - streets, buildings, etc.Winston wrote:Do any of you experience the following in America too?
Whenever you go out and do anything, whether it's going to work, going shopping or doing an errand, there is this feeling that everything is POINTLESS and MEANINGLESS. Even driving into a parking lot at Walmart or Walgreen and dragging your feet to the entrance, feels empty and meaningless too. It's like there's no point to anything you do there. It feels like you're just going through the motions with no point or purpose. Everything feels so meaningless, including the smallest errand.
Do any of you feel that way too? It's so sad isn't it?
If so, I would surmise it's because America offers nothing except consumerism. You are supposed to live for consumerism in America. It's supposed to be your main joy and purpose in life. If it's not, then you don't fit in and you have no business being in America. You are totally out of place.
With most of us, our passion is picking up girls and dating them. But America doesn't provide that. It's the worst place for that because girls are stuck up, unapproachable, and unfriendly. Wanting to pick them up is considered taboo and creepy.
Thus our needs and desires are INVALIDATED in America. We are NOT ALLOWED to pursue what we want. That's why we feel like there's no point to anything in America. We don't live for consumerism, as America expects us to. So we have no place there. We can't be ourselves or pursue what we want either, so we are totally invalidated as well.
Thus everything in America feels empty, pointless and meaningless to us. We drag our feet around in America even though our heart is not in it.
It's like you're not truly living and not even alive. Pretty sad huh?
In America, life is a series of boxes. (No, I'm not plugging the novel in my signature...) You go from one box to the next. Schools are boxes. Houses are boxes. Churches are boxes. Grocery Stores are boxes. Cars are boxes. Everything is clunky, disjointed, and so everything feels disconnected from everything else instead of fluid as it should be. It's so hard to describe that I don't think words are adequate. It needs to be seen and perceived personally. I've tried to explain to others how life abroad can change you, make you see life more as it is meant to be lived. But words are not enough for this task.
Here are some comments:
Thomas Hilmersen This is so true. When I explain life in the US to people in other countries, that is how I explain it: You live in an area with no shops, no workplaces and few people outside....then get in the car and travel to your workplace, where there are no houses, no shops, etc....then you go back to your house. In the weekend, it is the same thing, except you go to a shopping mall, instead of to work.
October 26 at 2:14am · Unlike · 2
Martell Tha CoolDude It's very empty and vain living in AmeriKKKa indeed
October 26 at 2:17am · Unlike · 2
Thomas Hilmersen If you really want to get depressed, just go into a Wal-Mart. Depressing music, depressing lightning, depressing people, depressing interior....
October 26 at 2:18am · Unlike · 2
Martell Tha CoolDude Everything looks the same
October 26 at 2:21am · Like · 1
Nick Chung you can't bloody walk anywhere interesting
October 26 at 4:39am · Like · 1
John Jelsovsky Walk? In America? No one WALKS in America. Why, you would have to interact with PEOPLE that way. *Shudder* No American would want to do THAT. </sarcasm>
October 26 at 10:19am · Unlike · 4
Martell Tha CoolDude There's hardly any walking distance
October 26 at 10:37am · Like
Nick Chung Haha, yeah John. People around here look at you like some kind of leper if they see you walking or have this look of "poor guy, he doesn't have a car" - "Yeah I got a car but maybe I feel like walking right now".
I like that metaphor where we go from one "box" to another. I often feel emotionally and even drained from shopping. It's such an inorganic experience.
October 26 at 4:36pm · Like · 2