Complaining
It seems there’s no end to things to complain about and no end to people willing to complain. Personally, I’m a little tired of all this complaining. That’s my complaint.
I complain about the political fights in Washington DC. “Why can’t they cooperate and get on with managing national issues?”
My neighborhood park was recently remodeled. Some complainers on Nextdoor say it wasn’t done thoughtfully, “Out of character with the neighborhood.”
Friends complain that young people use their cell phones too much. “They’re forgetting how to communicate properly.”
People might say they’re not complaining, simply expressing their opinion. Either way, it’s negativity.
Our Culture
I imagined writing a book titled Culture of Complaint, as a companion to my other book idea, Culture of Anxiety. Complaining and being anxious may be exciting or fun or fill time but is no way to live life. And something else, it’s not much fun being around a complainer or someone who is anxious because they drank from our media’s endless stream of items-you-can-be-anxious-about.
I thought my adopted country held the international record for complaints per capita. We don’t. Several countries are ahead.
Why do we complain so much? We are tribal animals, and all our tribes seem to echo the national media’s trumpeted assumption that, if-it’s-not-terrible-it’s-not-worth-mentioning.
I’m not going to get into blaming the media. That’s just playing another national sport, substituting attack and blame for listening and understanding. It’s human nature to be attracted to conflict. Professional sports rely on that, but the media has truly mined it for gold.
Feedback
Do you remember some years ago when Fox News discovered that using the name of our previous president and his outrageous statements dramatically increased their viewers? The other news outlets soon realized that if they didn’t follow, they would lose their audience. They joined in and his name became THE hot sales item. And we each promoted it by listening and watching.
That isn’t looking for blame or fault. It’s just observing that that’s our nature, yours and mine, and the nature of the money-making organizations that hover around us, noticing what attracts us and feeding us more, be it sugary or fatty foods, or the terrifying and endless stories about people’s inhumanity to people.
I’m not going to say we bring it on ourselves, because again that would be following the blaming model, or the attacking model, or the accusing model. It’s just the way it is, and I love us for what we are.
I may not feel comfortable recognizing this, but when I see creepy things in the media about situations or individuals or nations or groups or tribes or political parties, I reflect that their words and actions are parts of me I actively use or that are waiting in the wings ready to step on stage, whether desirable or not.
Inheritance
Another complaint I hear sometimes is the terrible world we are leaving for our grandchildren. Up the flagpole run the usual culprits: climate change, species depletion, corporate overreach, inequity and inequality, tribalism/racism/genderisms and so on. But I have faith in people, particularly young people.
We’re leaving a better world for our children, and they will leave a better world for theirs, though for sure it will carry some new, self-created problems. Each generation improves on the work of the previous in health, technology, safety, and so on. Some forget the benefits and feel that they are leaving just the accompanying costs for their grandchildren.
Living is Grand
Grandchildren won’t experience their world that way. They’ll experience living as we each do, a thrilling and all too brief journey. At this stage of my life, I easily tear up thinking about how precious and rare and beautiful this jewel of life has been. And still is.
Looking back, I realize that my parents had faith
in me, and it was justified. I have faith in my grandchildren, that they will manage successfully in a world vastly different from the one I grew up in. They will be delighted in this amazing experience called living. And like you and me, they will look back absolutely stunned at the thrilling and creative random walk they took.
Enjoy.
Thank you for reading.
Barry
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