observations from the dance floor
Last night I went ‘out’ and was struck by a number of things. First up – why does going ‘out’ just refer to going to clubs and other alcohol serving places that are actually indoors - why doesn’t it refer to skydiving, flyfishing or just going anywhere actually outside? The second thing may be a result of my upbringing in country New South Wales in Tamworth. Here men are men, they wear big boots, drive utes, drink beer and perv on Shiela’s. (I think I’m allowed to exaggerate things a little for effect – writers prerogative) Now I’m used to the concept of girls and guys going out dancing and drinking as I’ve been in Newcastle for a while now, and I just guessed that guys do it because they want a chance at scoring with a lady, yet last night I noticed guys dancing with each other. They were really good – popping and locking, shuffling around and break dancing, and we weren’t even in a gay bar. These lads were just happy dancing and showing off their moves to one another and simply were not interested in the throng of ladies that surrounded them, as they were not doing a similar style of dancing. Good on them I say, dance for dance sake.
The other thing that I noticed was just how draining dancing is. My thighs are really aching this morning and my knees feel like they have been trampled on by a herd of brumbies. And I remember at the time getting really puffed, especially after the band played a cracking rendition of ‘tainted love’. I guess that’s how the regular revellers must work off all the alcohol that they consume.
Classless = Clueless?
We live in a classless society. Some would argue this, but in comparison to the regimented system in England during the dark ages or the Cast system in India this loses ground. The benefits of this are vast – anyone regardless of what sort of background or upbringing that they have can achieve and do what ever they want to do. But it isn’t common that the disadvantages of this are discussed. One consequence of the classless system is that everyone can and is striving for the sorts of occupations and lifestyles previously only held by the aristocrats – if anyone can achieve it then why not? So instead of only the upper classes attaining to be wealthy, rich, successful and powerful – everyone is. This results in value being placed on the previously mentioned traits and occupations, and lifestyles that do not have this are undervalued. Compare the social capital of Lawyers and Farmers. Lawyers are well respected and are the sort of occupation that we would all love our children, or at least our children’s future spouses to have, where as farmers despite providing food for all of society lack the same clout. Why is this?
It all comes back to the ultimate question – what is our purpose in life? And the reality that people are increasingly choosing to turn away from previous held aims of providing for the family, being of benefit to society, living a happy and healthy lifestyle, and are instead aiming for the stars fame, status, power and money.
I’ve been musing this over because I am choosing where I would like to go in life, where I would like to work, what I would like to achieve and where I see my self. And these thoughts have been running through my mind.
Cheaper, Better.
Money doesn’t buy happiness. Surely this is one of the biggest cliché’s around, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would contradict it outright. Despite this consumerism is at its highest, and more and more non essential things are being sold with the idea that they will imbue happiness in whoever purchases them. In the last couple of months I have come across situations that have really highlighted for me where happiness can come from. What initially got me thinking was when my American friend Ben and I started playing a hypothetical game where we would say how much we would pay for certain moments that had occurred. I for example would have payed roughly $100 for the moment where I flicked a paper football into a cup just after I had said “okay guys, just one more flick and then we can go” and Ben would have payed about $60 for a goal that he fired in from fifteen metres out when playing five a side soccer. Putting a monetary value on moments of happiness is inherently floored, but it is interesting to think about.
Last Wednesday as I was walking home after a class I saw a girl who for some reason I just knew would be really kind, pleasant and friendly. She was walking the same way as I was so I asked her how her day was going and we talked all the way back to my place where we said goodbye and parted ways. She was an American exchange student studying education, had also recently been to Israel and was just as I had suspected incredibly friendly and nice. It was probably one of the nicest walks I have ever had. Now if I was to put a value on that moment I would probably pay between $700 to $1200 for it. Obviously if I saw it for sale on a shelf I wouldn’t purchase it because my bank balance does not stretch that far, I’d probably have to go for a cheaper version perhaps where the person wasn’t quite as friendly, had an annoyingly slow gate or was one of those people who tends to bump into you a lot when you walk next to them. This walk was awesome and much more enjoyable than an ipod or t-shirt with the word ‘billabong’ on it, and was much cheaper. So not only is gaining happiness from non material things more enjoyable, it is also much cheaper.
Welcome!
Hi there, and welcome to my new blog! The reason that i have changed from my previous blog (www.justinsoverseasfun.blogspot.com) is two fold. The first is that i am no longer overseas and that instead of writing about the crazy things that happen while travelling i’ll be writing about the crazy things that happen while studying at Uni, as well as my fleeting thoughts and musings on life. The second reason for the change is that the site that my previous blog was hosted on did not allow any feedback from people who viewed the blog that weren’t logged on as members. This effectively stopped most of the people that read the blog from commenting.
I’m a communications student, and although i often wonder if i do actually learn much here at Uni, i know that communication is not a one way street – there needs to be feedback. Infact the reason that the my keyboard is making a tap tap taping sound as i’m typing this is because it was designed this way – to provide feedback for the user. The keys are effectively saying to me ‘that’s right buddy, you really are pressing me and i feel it’. And that is what I would essentially like from my blog. I don’t want to write words that get swept into the endless abyss of the internet. I want them to find people. They don’t have to find many people, but i would like to know that at least someone read them.
Hello world!
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