Family

Foiled again!

I was thinking I wouldn't have much time to post today because I had clinicals until 4pm today, was going to try to get a load of laundry done, and then have Family Promise training. But alas, my clinical instructor came down with strep. Lest you think I wasted my precious, caffeinated, energized morning self - I immediately dove into deep cleaning the house. And by deep cleaning, I mean DEEP cleaning. You know what I always find the most disturbing? How dusty the molding gets... I mean it's the molding for goodness sake!

Anyway, so here I am. It's only 10:30 in the morning and I've managed to clean the entire house to the nth degree which gives me no excuse to put off studying...

Except for writing here of course.... though who am I kidding? No one is reading this. There is a classic episode of criminal minds where the SK (serial killer) is picking women off facebook; and it pretty much made me roll over laughing. There's a point when Rossi states "Can somebody explain to me the appeal of these sites? Eating sushi tonight yummm.... Boss is keeping me late at work grrrr. Who's life is so important that we'd be interested in this kind of detail?" What Morgan replies is so telling.

"I don't know. I guess that's the running joke right? I mean nobody is... but we'd all like to believe there's actually an audience out that that wants to follow our every move"

I think about that episode just about every time I write a post now. I don't believe there are people out there who want to hear all about my deep cleaning. You have to be of celebrity status for people to attribute importance or show ridiculous interest in your normal every day life. It is preposterous and kind of laughable what we find interesting about celebrities. I don't have the arrogance to believe there's an audience out there that wants to follow my every move... Heck I can track how many people check out this blog... and I can tell you it's like zip. So why do I do it? And why do we do it as a culture?

Let's revisit the shared experience thing... and factor in the warped experience of loneliness. I think that people are lonely. Loneliness hits us in every state of life - it doesn't spare us according to socioeconomics, race, sexual orientation, even celebrity status.  How we are known and by whom... is very limited. Whether because of trust issues, betrayal, hurt, messed up childhood relationships, etc. or just the hectic busyness of life, we find it difficult to let people into our lives. And yet, we all desire close connections.

Look at Criminal Minds! Why did it stay so popular? I think a lot of it has to be attributed to the family culture highlighted in the show. We all want a tight knit community of people we can depend on. We want people who will fight for us, protect us, make fun of us, understand us, and even challenge us. We want to feel like there are people who will be irrevocably affected if we were to leave. Social networking allows us to feel like we're connected... not quite to that degree, but it does allow us to share experiences across time and space. And I think if used correctly, it can enhance relationships, but most of the time, it is used in a way deserving of Rossi's appalled reaction.

I get lonely too... and I don't just write to a cyberworld to deal with it... I actively choose a person or family to spend time with. Staying and feeling connected to people isn't as easy as it looks on TV. It requires time, energy, and the ability to initiate connection. Don't be discouraged, even if you're always the one initiating. Just make sure you find people who are worth it. So that's why I write... because I think the experiences we have do help each other. When shared, they help us know we are not alone, there are solutions to problems, and there are people who care.

#Criminalminds #Family #Youarenotalone