A comment got me thinking ...

This morning when I checked in, I found this comment left by a visitor:

Hi, I too live on the prairie. Glad to see your blog. I have been going to our Methodist church, here, in our little town in New Mexico and wanted to comment on your goth section. I have been depressed since age 11 (I am now 47) and naturally turn to the darker colors in life. So, I feel that Goth is for those who are depressed inside. What do you think? I call myself Prairie Goth. (patd116)

It got me thinking ...

I see a link between the feelings of the reader who acknowledged feeling depressed and drawn to the darker side of life, and the success of sites like Post Secret where people anonymously send in their secrets on a post card for ALL to see ... I wonder if the problem isn't that depressed people, or those hiding a secret are the exception, but rather are the NORM.

Rather than seeing those who are drawn to Goth, or other subcultures as the non-conformist, perhaps our society in its unspoken, yet overpowering expectation of conformity to an unrealistic set of expectations, has revealed the truth of what lurks inside the human soul ... a yearning to be loved, accepted and most of all - to be one's self.

I wonder if the "problem" is simply that we've lost the willingness and perhaps the openness to simply be the people we are meant to be ... we're so caught up in the false pursuit of happiness, that we've forgotten that EVERYONE has those deep dark thoughts, that everyone struggles with feelings of un-happiness, that everyone has life experiences like ours ...

In our zealousness to keep up with the Joneses, we've lost sight of the fact that that Joneses are like us, and maybe the stuff they've surrounded themselves with is a vain attempt at attaining happiness that is lacking elsewhere in their lives ...

I've watched beautiful people slap on a happy face and convince themselves that they are happy and things are wonderful when the contradictiory evidence around them is compelling and overwhelming ...

Settling for what is will not lead to happiness ...

Convincing one's self that what they have is all they are entitled to is not happiness ...

Accepting things the way they are with a sigh and an "Oh Well," is not a place of contentment or happiness ...

What will bring happiness - true happiness within the soul - is a reality check, and the realization that we are not abnormal for feeling less than "HAPPY" because often the definition of Happiness in our society is a false, shallow warm pink fuzziness that is unrealistic and ultimately unattainable if you are to live a life of integrity with honesty and openess.

What is needed is opening our eyes to the reality around us ... depression runs rampant in our society because we've been given a bad bill of sale ... the rat race of our consumer culture simply doesn't work ... we spend our time chasing after the "newest" and the "best" only to get the and realize that they are already being replaced ... Instead of simple conversation, we fill our space with noise from personal electronics and the endless barrage of "entertainment" from an industry that is about profits not art.

I wonder if we really dared to ask - "Are you happy?" to our children, our friends and ultimately, to ourselves, if we would be ready for the answers.

Post Secret has perhaps shown us that EVERYONE struggles in life ... we all carry our secrets ... perhaps that's where we need to keep up with the Joneses ...