There is a theory that humanity shifted it's focus on survival to a focus on pleasure, but I find this to be missing a major point. While it may be true that humanity no longer has to struggle just to survive, and it may seem as though a focus on pleasure is the pinnacle of modern day societal norms there is a major mark about how miserable we all are throughout our normal lives.
We work day in and day out just to buy bullshit we don't need while living in houses and apartments that far exceed what we can afford to pay. Out of a 24 hour day, if we spend 8 hours sleeping, that leaves 16 hours awake. A typical work day is half that if you exclusively count hours on the clock but then you have to add the time it takes to get ready for work, the time it takes to drive to and from work, and the breaks you take that are off the clock.
Let's say you're exceptionally quick to get ready for work and take a mere 10 minutes, but then it takes you 30 minutes to get to work. That is already 40 additional minutes to your 8 hour work day. Then an additional 30 minutes spent for your lunch break, which if you leave your job to get lunch will mostly be spent in your car driving to and from the location with, if you're lucky, half that time actually just sitting to eat. After you clock out you have an additional 30 minute drive home.
So if we add all that together we get 9 hours and 40 minutes, which has now become your actual work day, which turns that 16 hour day into much closer to 6.
Next, there is dinner. Preparing for dinner takes time, and then it has to be cooked. By the time you can sit down and eat, another hour has passed, if not more. That now leaves us with a mere 5 hours remaining of our day.
Of course, after spending so much time doing everything else, who wants to spend the remaining hours of their day leaving their house again to find something they enjoy? That isn't even considering that those 5 hours are likely split between pre-work and post-work, which dependent upon how you split it could be dwindled down to a couple of hours.
Then there are the trips to the grocery store, picking up things you need that may have broke or worn out, taking care of the yard, cleaning the house, and all the other responsibilities brought on by being an adult.
Now typically, a person takes care of all their responsibilities on their off time, and this makes sense because they don't have time during work days.
But that begs a question - where does a person's desire, hobbies, or interests fall in all this? How does a person find something they enjoy? How does a person find the time to discover themselves in all this mess?
Well, there is ultimately only 4 answers to this question:
1: They skip taking care of their responsibilities.
2: They skip work.
3: They skip sleep.
4: They don't.
The 4th answer is really the one I feel most people would find themselves in, but we all have to find a reason to continue our lives or else we'd all commit suicide. So, how then, would one find a reason to continue their life?
I feel that the answer to that question should be answered in a later blog post.
As always, thanks for reading, Dustin S. Stover
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