As I was watching an interesting documentary about how octopuses carry a shell as their home, I was thinking about humans and our way of perceiving shelter. Nowadays with the house prices going higher and higher, the uncertainty is unbearable for so many people. Expectations and the desire to have a family are often related and dependant on this shell we call home.
The pressure for stability is greater after a certain age, where everybody expects from you to become the responsible adult. To be the one who wakes up every morning going to a job that pays the bills. To be the one providing with a home, even if that throws you in a 30 year loan hole. To be the one who conforms and follows the norms because everybody else does the same. In the meanwhile you grow old and you wonder how come time passed by so fast, how come you never chased your dreams? After so many years of conforming, a lot of people wouldn't even know what to do with their freedom. If somebody would give you 1 month of free time, what would you do? So many people would actually be eager to get back to the same job they despised before just to escape the agony of not knowing what to do with their lives. So they prefer somebody else planning for them: how much should they work, how much is their time worth, when they can take a break, for how long.
Making such sacrifices for a concrete building sounds absurd when we think about what a house literally is: concrete/wood. A piece of architecture which will be decaying decades from now. People want it for what it means, not for what it is. It can mean status, safety, pride, reunion. It can be an escape and also a mirror for the ego. A house can consume you or it can shelter you. The price we are willing to pay for safety is putting a shadow on the price we pay for losing our freedom. Is it worth it?
The octopus looks like a free animal, carrying the shell everywhere it goes. Like the nomad people or the homeless, carrying their lives in a bag. In comparison with those who have it all, they look helpless, vulnerable, sad. Losers who have nothing. Are the homeless more free than those working 12 hours + to pay loans for pretty houses? Are they more like a loser than those who become bitter about having to work so much? Do we work for shelter or do we work because society hasn't taught us better?
The need for shelter and safety should never override the necessity to dream. While buildings are here to stay and decay, we do not get back the years we spent in robotic routine. The years we lost getting up religiously for work only to spend the rest of the time sleeping it over, forgetting how to live, how to love, how to be.
The years we lost chasing others, trying to look like we have it as better as they do. The years we lost by not speaking, dreaming, travelling because we wanted to have it all right by the time we hit a certain age. The years we lost by imitating others instead of trying to figure out who we want to be. Instead of chasing shelter, money, status and power we would be better off chasing dreams. Our dreams. And put those in a shell to carry everywhere we go...
This is the latest article from my personal blog
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You have the cosmos on your pants.
Yeah I do, I'm very much in love with it. Typical nerd G. 🙈
Lol...I shows Faith the picture, and the comment I made and she said that I should have paid you a compliment instead. But...What better compliment is there than to have the cosmos on your legs?
I took it as a compliment and I really liked it. I enjoy it when I see people who have an eye for the detail because I myself am very much into details😊
I see everything. I'm very perceptive. It's a curse sometimes. (Not joking.)
Well better to see all than blind
True...It's served me well, once I learned when and when not to comment about my observations. Women tend to like it that I notice things about them, men dong give a fuck...But I still notice. One can learn a lot if one sees with a little more clarity.
I liked such a peculiar reflection. No idea octopuses carry a shell as their home. No matter the species, it seems safety, comfortability and sense of belonging to somewhere surpass any try to better oneself in personal terms.
High hills are for a few.
I agree with the idea about the high hills. Sacrifice is not easy but the same goes with collecting rewards.
The shell of an octopus is called a "Nautilus" (Argonaut) shell lady mary and I have a few shells in my display case.
Have a look at this magical show!
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/a/argonaut/
So cool! Thanks so much for the link, octopuses are fascinating. Any information about interesting news/documentaries about them... Hit me up, I love reading about them. Actually I would love to have a mini aquarius with a small octopus in it hahha.
That story about the Nautilus shell is indeed fascinating.
When I picked it up on the beach, I thought it was some child's plastic toy, as it was colorful and seemed like plastic.
By chance we looked at other shell names on the Internet and there it was!
So I ran into garden to fetch it in Marian's display and now it's in a case on my ships steering wheel in the house. Marian found another tiny one one and it's also in the case :)
We are waiting for the April to August season, towards the end of the animal spawning season, as then it's their time to wash out on the beaches.
See: https://beachcomberguide.co.za/blog/paper-nautilus-the-hunt-is-on/
I will certainly "hit you up" with future findings and hope that one day you will have your aquarium.
Thanks so much! I think it would be lovely to collect such things, they are such a work of art
Nature is indeed filled with wonders my friend.
Blessings!
"People want it for what it means, not for what it is."
This sentence resonated with me. I find that people buy a lot things to impress others (or society) rather than buying it for themselves because it is useful, usually with debt. It is tragic.
Fantastic post @creativemary!
Hi @creativemary! This article is really interesting.
When you talk about stability and fulfilling our dreams it seems like you separate the two, stability from the dream. But when stability is part of the dream then where does it apply?
I believe that fulfilling our dreams requires being able to think long term about what we want to do with our time, and some of these dreams require money, so routine work may have to be part of the process of achieving the dream.
I believe that working to have money is important, but we cannot let money and material things be the center of life. Having a routine job doesn't have to leave us without time to manifest our dreams either. For example, we can go to work for 8 hours and when we return home we can dedicate two hours to our personal purpose.
With regard to the homeless, I don't think they are happier than people with homes, not if they are people who don't have to eat. Now, if they are travelers who make money from that lifestyle and have their basic needs met, then I have no doubt that they can be happy like that, in fact I follow many channels of nomads who make a living from traveling and photographing the world and they seem comfortable with that lifestyle.
Having a home doesn't have to be a priority for everyone, but I think it would bring some peace of mind, especially if in their childhood and youth they never experienced what it is like to have a home of their own or even a room to themselves.
I understand the point that it should not be the center of life to please others and for that reason to buy a house, but for example, I find it difficult to raise a family without having a house to give them shelter, since growing up in an environment of homeless poverty is not a pleasant life situation.
Anyway, I think that work is necessary to survive, to have food and basic needs covered, but we must not leave aside our purpose. Maybe both can live together in harmony. What do you think?
Hey! I like your view on the subject. I think that every person is as happy as they decide to be, including the disadvantaged.
I agree with you about making time for our purpose. Many people lack the motivation after 8 hours plus of work. Here I believe that a strong reason/dream will pull you enough from the mundane lethargy.
We do need a house for a family. But in the same time if that home is not filled with good spirit, harmony, people who are happy about where they are living and with whom...then is that a house where nobody would like to be in
Money are necessary but imagination and dreams come before having money most of the times
One way to combat lethargy when working long hours is to spend time on your purpose BEFORE going to work. You have to get up earlier, of course, but it would be a small sacrifice compared to the desire for which you work. But at the same time I understand that there are people who do not have this purpose in mind and routine can hold them up until they reach retirement without having built something to fill them up.
Of course, money without purpose is useless, it will not make you happy at all.
Early risers have indeed a great advantage if they use that time wisely!