tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613133849454217863.post5746602643458950938..comments2023-08-10T03:50:38.416-07:00Comments on Meta Vie: Better All The Time!Michelle Garrison Houghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16753710524857823855noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613133849454217863.post-83187041436718070232009-12-04T10:15:57.001-08:002009-12-04T10:15:57.001-08:00Hi Michelle,
I really liked your installment thi...Hi Michelle,<br /> <br />I really liked your installment this time. Those thoughts are very familiar to me and to many people, I believe. People go through their young years/college/grad school with their idea of what success means, and they follow that objective believing that this definition of success will bring them everything (including fulfillment and happiness). In my opinion, our impressions of what fulfillment is come from influences surrounding us, such as our peers and television. From these sources, we glean the notion that self-fulfillment means financial success and personal achievement in certain careers..... and usually not in blue collar careers. It is not until people have spent their time in what they thought was their "dream" that they realize they don't have any time to actually enjoy life. They have no time to see their kids, to spend with their spouses, to take vacations, to smell the roses, etc. ....especially if you have workaholic tendencies once your wheel gets turning (perhaps we are both like this)...<br /> <br />In most of anglophone North American culture, we share a common fault. That is, we commonly associate our own sense of self-esteem with our personal, professional accomplishments. By contrast, as you know, in France people are often more concerned with enjoying life and what they will do next with their free time. Admittedly, the French often grumpy, but they don't take their accomplishments too seriously (outside the 16th arrondissement, at least) and are capable of enjoying life without equaling everything they accomplish professionally with their own sense of self-worth. <br /> <br />When I hung out with people in working class Britain, life was different from in France, but like the French, people did not let their careers take over their lives or dictate their own self-esteem. People scurried out the door as soon as their day was done and promptly headed to enjoy their communal endeavors at the pub, to laugh, to tell jokes, etc. Not all, but many people were happy just to get by in life and didn't want more than what they had. They didn't care if they ever had any material possessions and they didn't have any social value attached to professional accomplishments (...I know you lived in London where things are different...). In North America, we are much more preoccupied with our careers to shape our sense of self-worth and, as a result, we feel downtrodden whenever we are not meeting those objectives. If we didn't have this shared value, we would be happy to punch the time clock at 5, go home to our modest abodes and start enjoying friends, family, and life in general. {Have you noticed that people in Britain like to laugh a lot more than people here? We're a bit more serious because we don't laugh at everything around...and we don't have the British sense of humor either} <br /> <br />I think that we grow up with certain ideas of our own self-accomplishment and where we should end up in life. Based on your blog, it seems that you have gone though this and arrived at your own independent sense of self-identification and self-worth that breaks away from the career-oriented mold. Congratulations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613133849454217863.post-7445452104466607382009-12-03T07:04:13.351-08:002009-12-03T07:04:13.351-08:00Must be a true compliment, coming from you! Much a...Must be a true compliment, coming from you! Much appreciated.Michelle Garrison Houghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16753710524857823855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613133849454217863.post-22941913835793865132009-12-02T19:18:48.534-08:002009-12-02T19:18:48.534-08:00Very sweet and uplifting post Michelle. Thanks.Very sweet and uplifting post Michelle. Thanks.Reid Scott Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11484199850229900075noreply@blogger.com