White Picket Fence
I love the thrill, the high. I can’t get enough. Constant cravings. I try to stop, but I need more. Temptation. Excess. Desire.
Ice cream and pickles? What came to mind for you? Drugs, alcohol, food, material, adrenaline, love, success…
I love the thrill, the high. I can’t get enough. Constant cravings. I try to stop, but I need more. Temptation. Excess. Desire.
There comes a day when we realize that there is no white picket fence to mark the boundaries of our dreams. We are taught that there are no limits; we have every possibility in the world to make ourselves happy. Reach for the sky, build on your successes, love like there is no tomorrow. Have you ever questioned these ideals that we are fed? How do they make society better? How do they make you better?
When I told my son that he could do anything, that his happiness depended only on him, he looked at me and asked, “When will I know? When will I know that I am happy, that my glass is full and I am okay now?” I thought about it, and I couldn’t answer. There has always been something missing, something more to get, to do. Another goal, another dream. Isn’t that the point? Isn’t that what we call living?
Then I started to question my motivations. I wanted…I always wanted! More, better, bigger, not yet, not satisfied. Never happy with today, I work for a better tomorrow. Today is not the result of my life, it is just a stepping stone. When will we give ourselves permission to live our lives, today? To be happy with who I am, what I have, what I’ve done…today.
I have churned the idea to mush, and it always comes down to gluttony.
It is our new hero of success. Don’t think so? Think again. How do you measure success, status, security? What I have, what I’ve done, how much I have. How much more do you need to get there? There it is, never satisfied: gluttony.
Gluttony is not an all-you-can-eat buffet on a Wednesday night or the puking feeling after Thanksgiving supper at Aunt Martha’s. But they do exemplify the concept. We have needs as humans. We can satisfy our needs, but are we ever really satisfied? Gluttony is losing sight of moderation and indulging in pleasure instead of necessity. The pleasure is attained by excess. We consume more than is required, we want more than our fair share.
We want more time, more space, more money, more “stuff”.
The key term is “more", but WHEN is more too much? How are we to measure when we have reached our happy medium? Is there such a thing? When do I get to that line, that fence that allows me to say: I am good enough, I am happy enough, my cup is full enough. But do I really want to get there?
Aha! There is the Montréal steak rub.
Are you up to the challenge? Can you live in moderation, exerting self-control and vigilance to satisfy needs without feeding wants? Be happy with who you are today, with what you have, with what you have done. Is that fence a line that you don’t mind not crossing?
Is gluttony our enemy? Or does it just have a bad rap? Where would you be without the drive to attain more, to go further, to reach higher? Do we just want to eat to feed our bodies, or do we want to enjoy the caramel pecan cheesecake drizzled with a raspberry coulis?
There might come a day when we realize that there is a white picket fence to mark the boundaries of our dreams, but from where I am sitting, the grass still looks greener on the other side. There is a “for sale” sign on the lot and hey, it’s hot outside and I’ve always wanted a pool.
Ice cream and pickles? What came to mind for you? Drugs, alcohol, food, material, adrenaline, love, success…
I love the thrill, the high. I can’t get enough. Constant cravings. I try to stop, but I need more. Temptation. Excess. Desire.
There comes a day when we realize that there is no white picket fence to mark the boundaries of our dreams. We are taught that there are no limits; we have every possibility in the world to make ourselves happy. Reach for the sky, build on your successes, love like there is no tomorrow. Have you ever questioned these ideals that we are fed? How do they make society better? How do they make you better?
When I told my son that he could do anything, that his happiness depended only on him, he looked at me and asked, “When will I know? When will I know that I am happy, that my glass is full and I am okay now?” I thought about it, and I couldn’t answer. There has always been something missing, something more to get, to do. Another goal, another dream. Isn’t that the point? Isn’t that what we call living?
Then I started to question my motivations. I wanted…I always wanted! More, better, bigger, not yet, not satisfied. Never happy with today, I work for a better tomorrow. Today is not the result of my life, it is just a stepping stone. When will we give ourselves permission to live our lives, today? To be happy with who I am, what I have, what I’ve done…today.
I have churned the idea to mush, and it always comes down to gluttony.
It is our new hero of success. Don’t think so? Think again. How do you measure success, status, security? What I have, what I’ve done, how much I have. How much more do you need to get there? There it is, never satisfied: gluttony.
Gluttony is not an all-you-can-eat buffet on a Wednesday night or the puking feeling after Thanksgiving supper at Aunt Martha’s. But they do exemplify the concept. We have needs as humans. We can satisfy our needs, but are we ever really satisfied? Gluttony is losing sight of moderation and indulging in pleasure instead of necessity. The pleasure is attained by excess. We consume more than is required, we want more than our fair share.
We want more time, more space, more money, more “stuff”.
The key term is “more", but WHEN is more too much? How are we to measure when we have reached our happy medium? Is there such a thing? When do I get to that line, that fence that allows me to say: I am good enough, I am happy enough, my cup is full enough. But do I really want to get there?
Aha! There is the Montréal steak rub.
Are you up to the challenge? Can you live in moderation, exerting self-control and vigilance to satisfy needs without feeding wants? Be happy with who you are today, with what you have, with what you have done. Is that fence a line that you don’t mind not crossing?
Is gluttony our enemy? Or does it just have a bad rap? Where would you be without the drive to attain more, to go further, to reach higher? Do we just want to eat to feed our bodies, or do we want to enjoy the caramel pecan cheesecake drizzled with a raspberry coulis?
There might come a day when we realize that there is a white picket fence to mark the boundaries of our dreams, but from where I am sitting, the grass still looks greener on the other side. There is a “for sale” sign on the lot and hey, it’s hot outside and I’ve always wanted a pool.
posted by Yuk-Sem | 10:02 p.m.
5 Comments:
WOW. Your posts amaze me. The way you take such simple dictionary defined items and turn them into marvelous pieces of original work is amazing. You encorperate passion, fear, hope, everything that makes a post wonderful! Your post contains a bit of humor as well with encorperating lines like "Montreal steak rub". It threw me off a bit but in a good way!
Your writing is so experienced and personally I think that you should write a book or something! haha
The one thing if any that I think I would suggest is maybe adding a few more examples of personal items into it because although it is brilliant, it is a lot of definition and explaining words that you are feeing.
After reading this post I am not sure if I am supposed to feel happy because I know there is always something better out there or sad because sometimes we may not reach that something better. It is a good way to end it because it makes the reader really consider their lives and think about their own selfishness.
Great Job Yuk-Sem: )
Brid
I can't argue with what you're saying here. The literal definition of a white picket fence means nothing, but its symbolic meaning perfectly justifies your piece's title.
I find your craft very eye-grabbing in this piece, along with your last post. I like how you repeat yourself, because with a point like the one you're trying to make, all kinds of theories have to be pounded into the reader's mind for their consideration. I like how your style mixes your personal belief with big picture questions that cannot really be answered, only explored.
Finally, I like how the narration is so inquisitive and provokes thought for the reader, however, I think a lot of the big-picture questions asked in this piece would be best suited for the introductory paragraphs and later finalized in the conclusion.
I love the way this piece made me think after having read it. There are so many undeniable truths in your writing and they are backed by particular vocabulary and sentence structure. I look forward to your next one.
Your writing inspires me. It appears well experienced. It is refreshing.
I like your view on the picket fence and how us humans always want more and whether or not it is a good or bad thing. I think both. People could become very disappointed if reaching too high and always falling flat on their ass, but on the otherhand, if we do not strive for the top, then we may never advance. I see you as a person with a lot of life experience and a very strong pen!
The only thing that throws me off even remotely is your questioning to the reader. I agree that if the questions were asked in the initial part of your post, it would leave you with more room to expand upon the rest. I am not by any stetch of the imagination knocking your work because I think that it is extremely powerful!
Well done again, Yuk-Sem. I enjoy reading your posts – your writing style has a nice pace and holds my attention. You use clever metaphors to help readers better understand your ideas.
You also challenge readers to look inside themselves, and then look even deeper. “Don’t think so? Think again,” is a perfect example. It almost forced me to stop reading for a moment and really think. Having said that, there may be a few too many questions in this post. I want to be able to stay somewhat focused, but I find I have to stop a few many times to answer questions in my head. And some of the questions aren’t evoking new responses.
I like that you leave the post unresolved and let me know that you are in the same boat as the rest of us – not sure if you’ve reached the point of “happiness” or not, and with your head turned by that next “want”.
I love your play with catch-phrases; especially in the final concluding statement. It forced my mind to connect with the phrases (or those similar to) the ones that themselves get pounded into our brains while we’re going up. You ask many questions, many open ended questions and I think it can be dangerous ground to tread when you ask rhetorical questions like these; especially when there is no definitive answer. But I like it. It makes me think, it gets the gears going. But put more of yourself into your work. Your first post (ADD) was filled with you. This one is so abstract. It was more for the cognitive capacities of the reader. But again, I am still considering your questions after I have read it. I know that the word gluttony has an image that evokes “a really big fat guy” but you remind me that it means more that eating a ton of “Micky-no-no’s” (McDonalds). I actually thought of all the ways that I was greedy and the list is still going...but some of these “wants” are fuelled by positive things. I could go on forever but I won’t. It was a good post.
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