Of people and things, and Cabbages and Kings

Is it not funny how depressed we can get just from realizing how few friends we have? Or by thinking of all the people we thought were friends, but really were not? Is it not facinating that other people can have that big an affect on you, whether you like it or not? We humans , much like wolves or other pack animals, are social creatures, constantly dependant on others. We always want someone to be there to take care of us, and someone for us to take care of in turn and we always strive to prove ourselves to people in our surroundings, be they family, friends or just strangers. Everything we do in life is intimately connected to other people. And nothing we do is ever really completely for ourselves.

No matter what we would like to believe, no man, or woman for that matter, is an island. We always want someone to keep us company and sometimes it does not even matter if that someone is not of our own species; it could be a pet, or in Chuck Noland's case: a volleyball. Of course, most of these substitutes do not last very long. Pets will always remain pets, and although they might be nice to cuddle, they can not comfort us when we are sad or tell us that everything will be all right. The same things goes for material things, and sooner or later they are going to be swept away by the waves, leaving us all alone once again.

I once thought that happyness did not neccessarily involve human contact, that there was no much more in the world to keep me feeling good. Only now do I realise how wrong I was. Material happyness in our modernday society is almost like a drug. Presents, clothes and money may be able to keep us happy for a time, but eventually they are going to lose their charm and all we do is crave for more. What had started as a small gift will escalade into heaps of things we really do not need and eventually we will fall into bitter dissappointment when we can not get all that we wish to have.

In the end, even though Things can never replace a good friend, we learn to take joy in the little things. They do not last as long perhaps, but give us enough of them and they can at least sustain us until a person comes along... A person who might, for once, turn out to be a good friend.

But until then, please let me enjoy the clothes and trinkets that make me happy. I do not know what else to do.

Maybe you should do the same.