What is the meaning of life?
Autumn leaf on granite...
Sure, that's a pretty clichéed thing to say, but it's interesting appropriate, in this moment.
I am taking a quick break to write, while my neighbor (I'm at work, as I write this) is working with some customers. We were having a talk about the psychology of group dynamics when someone wandered into her store.
She said "hold that!" and popped back into her own space through our shared door.
I could hear her visitor ask if she needed to "finish her purchase," and she explained it was not a purchase, and that she was "listening to something my neighbor was sharing, he gets really DEEP about humans, motivations, psychology and things."
Really Deep...?
I can't say that I have ever thought of myself as "deep," but her statement underscored something I have observed about people and life: the vast majority of people on this planet go through life from a place of "reactivity" rather than a place of "responsiveness." And somehow people who "respond" tend to often get labeled as "deep."
California poppy in the sun
When I encounter "something"-- a person, a situation, a problem, a conflict-- my interest and motivation is in trying to understand how it came about, so we can somehow figure out how to create a mutually beneficial interaction or resolution. The idea of simply "reacting" and (figuratively speaking) "whacking it over the head with a piece of 2x4" isn't really how my brain operates.
Sometimes... to my detriment.
Sitting there, trying to understand the deeper underlying dynamic of what might have happened in the school bully's life that would lead him to want to steal someone's sandwich is probably a lot less functionally effective than simply telling him to piss off and punching him in the nuts.
But yes, I was "that kid." And I never quite could figure out the benefits of "problem solving with your fists." Not because I didn't recognize that some people were stronger than others, but because doing so was never a resolution... it was always a temporary impasse till the next conflict.
"Depth" and Perspective
I'll be the first to admit that I am-- at my core-- an idealist.
Honeysuckle about to bloom
Ever since being maybe 6-7 years old and observing adults and their frequent inability to get along and be decent to each other I have been haunted by the question "Why can't we all just get along?"
And what some people might perceive as my being "deep," I experience as no more than my lifetime attempt at understanding the human dynamic with all it's foibles and quirks... how do we GET to these places in our psyches, where we do horrible, mean, narrow-minded, selfish and anti-social things to each other... often for no greater reason than some unseen compulsion that we "HAVE to" have things our way?
Maybe I am cognitively blind, in some ways. At least it sometimes feels that way-- especially when someone looks at me like I just dropped in from another planet... and then says something like "You just don't GET it, do you? This isn't about working things out, it's about WINNING!"
I consider this. "Winning" is OK, as long as it falls under the broader spectrum of "do no harm." If you have to do harm, to win... then I'm not onboard with it.
Well, my neighbor is done, so I'm going to "decorate" this post a bit, and send it out into the whirled.
How about YOU? Do people ever call you "deep?" Does it feel right to you, or a bit strange? Do you like to plumb the depths of trying to understand the human condition? Are you a student of psychology and/or philosophy? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170718 14:23 PDT