It's been a long time since I posted something on here. I attribute this to discovering twitter, and posting quite frequently to my public and personal accounts. While the depth of material is in no way comparable, there is something to be said about actually having someone read what I post/write.
I really do miss the chance to write paragraphs, flushing out concepts and tossing links around like a literate lunatic. Today, the insanity returns.
In the last year, I've found myself arguing more and more for an adherence to idealism. Idealism to me isn't an end, but a means. It operates as the struggle that provides an intermediate solution that includes some idealism rather than excluding all of it. While most of my colleagues disagree with this view and espouse a purely economic or pragmatic solution, I think that problems should be addressed with at least a semblance of ethics and morals.
Because of this view, I've found myself with a smaller group of friends and a more defined view of the options that lay ahead of me professionally and socially. Here, we have a wonderful segue into relationships. You can't escape time.
The key question is whether a person should pursue idealism to the fullest of their abilities. This means placing the ideals that a person holds higher than anything. It's the force that drives so many young people in our society - that uncompromising nature that fails to yield to the advice of so-called experience that age brings.
However, as we get older, we change as individuals. No longer are we looking out for our own interests, but we start to incorporate the values of caring for others on a more personal level. I'm not talking about sending gifts to people on their birthday or making sure that the Christmas shopping is done on time. I'm talking about establishing common relationship roles, such as husband, father, or boyfriend. Since I'm male, I view it from a certain perspective, so using a gender neutral list would lend the interpretation of this writing a false property.
Relationships change our priorities - hopefully. The successful relationships I've seen have caused a shift from focus on the self to focus on the other person(s). Soon, the primary goal is no longer to solve literacy worldwide or to solve world hunger. Such goals become secondary.
When viewed from this perspective, age doesn't change our view of the world. Instead, we choose to change our perception as we build intimate relationships. Aging simply occurs simultaneously. This is a slow compromise of those ideals, because supporting those directly around you supplants the loft goals of single youth.
Following this logic, it simply means that as we learn more about life, the way we approach life changes. I don't think there is a judgment call on the shifting the priority of our individual goals. Yet, I do find that it highlights the dangers of an idealistic path.
The idealistic path can be a barren one, with joys few and far between. It's not for everyone, and some find parallel paths that contribute effectively rather than wholly. Garrison Keillor recently wrote an op-ed piece for the International Herald Tribune, addressing this very issue. When it comes down to it, many people take the path of "cheese" because idealism can be quickly forced out when competing with family and comfort.
To end this ill-timed post, I'll say that I find more people these days looking to not take a serious approach to life. I'm not sure if this means that my generation desires to skip the idealism of youth or if it is simply abandoning reality completely. Time will reveal the follies of our choices.
