From Consumerism to Identification Through Occupation

I was recently reading The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, one of my favorite books at the moment, and he commented on the drive for people to identify with objects. This is so noticeable with mass consumerism and marketing in the west. Sorry for stating the obvious. Our society makes people think they need that shiny thing to be better. But my thought is, we are becoming more aware that we identify with objects, but not as conscious that we identify with our occupations, and are looking for ourselves from them. The movement of the identification with things is evolving to the identification with occupation.

When we meet someone new one of the first questions we ask is what do you do? I am guilty of this and I believe most adults are. It is really just that old song and dance of sizing people up. The bureau of labor and statistics shows that people between the age of 25 -34 stay at their jobs less than an average of 2 years but most within this age range most really stay less that 12 months. We all know statistics can be bent to our needs so I looked at several different reports and came to the same conclusion.

I do not agree with most on the subject of why this is happening. Most of the resources I have come across on the matter claim out generation are such techies and feel we are so arrogant and feel such entitlement that we can never be happy with where we are. I agree to some extent but I believe it goes beyond this. I belive it is more personal and on some level spiritual. I think we go to job after job looking for ourselves, thinking the next job will finally define us, and give us our identity. This explains our diminished sense of self when we are laid off or fired, even though statistically we would have quit in a few months anyway. There are some that are exceptions to this. They know their jobs do not define them, when someone asks them who they are they do not answer with a job title. This serial job jumping is in direct alignment with a shift in conciousness, which may be happening. Sorry to go all New Age on you, but until we come to the realization we are not our jobs and can not be defined by anything outside of ourselves some of us will be playing job hopscotch for a long time.

Aimless Wanderer

Am I an aimless wanderer powerless against the obstacles that the world seems to throw, Or the obstacles my mind make-believe? Does my wondering seek knowledge without a real question, a wanting without a real destination, a vision without a real image? How do I see myself? Do I really see myself as anything, or what I am suppose to be, or as something else unspeakable. Breaking the rules that have already seemed to have been broken and wanting to stare a world in the face that has no eyes is an idealistic feat. Have I succumbed to self-pity, self-loathing, defeat? My mind and soul seems to wander aimlessly aerially and seem together, yet detached. Now the wind I use to listen to seems now to be so judgmental and no longer comforting. An adult that does not remember the passing of childhood or the passing into adulthood, I remain.

Snowy Day Journal

I feel doomed to relieve my past. Issues of trust, insecurity, deceit, decisions are all coming back to haunt me. I try to think I can realize I can make my life how I want it. Being responsible for how I feel, how I react to situations, others, make my own happiness. But I forget that feeling of responsibility sometimes and feel paralyzed to decisions and emotions.

I have come to the realization of what emotions are. I have realized the way emotions build on each other as well as situations or events build upon one another, much like the Buddhist teachings of life is a series of events. I do not think I ever really understood their point of view until now.

I try to be comforted in decisions I have made. Try to tell myself they are in the past and no matter how much they may look like mistakes they are my decisions and my “mistakes” and they have made me what I am and are responsible for what I have learned in this life. But sometimes guilt, blame and regret overwhelm me, as with any human being I guess. Fear also overwhelms me at times. Fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of failure and probably another one-thousand one-hundred and thirty-nine things.

How do I fix a self that should not need fixing. A self that should realize it’s own divinity and capabilities of manifesting anything it wants. How do I own compassion and understanding and share this with even those who may hurt me? It is a challenge.