Apathy costs. Passion rewards.

 

Edward Munch painted his famous painting "The Scream" in 1883, and for many of us the painting

 may be about screaming, but according to some others, the screaming originates not from the person in the painting, but from nature, from the nearby asylum where Munch's sister was hospitalised, and/or the nearby slaughterhouse.

Often when we get frustrated, angry, disappointed, and so on...we feel like yelling, screaming, or at least raise our voices. Some call it being animated, passionate, yet others view it as lack of emotional control.

As long as there is some kind of expression, there is involvement, but what happens when a person no longer has the energy or motivation to care?

We become disengaged, or if you prefer, we become apathetic. Apathy according to Wikipedia; "is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion.  An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life."

In an episode of the Simpson's, Homer is asked why he doesn't do something about it (it=something the rest of the family is concerned about) Homer answers: "`Cos I just don't care."

I asked a guy why he gets blind drunk every weekend and he answered: "Why not?"

I asked a friend why she doesn't vote, and she said: "Why vote, no point to it, they will do what they please anyway."

I asked one of my son's friends why he lives in such a mess and chaos (his words), and he answered: "Why bother cleaning it, it will just get messy again."

In 1950, US novelist John Dos Passos writes:  "Apathy is one of the characteristic responses of any living organism when it is subjected to stimuli too intense or too complicated to cope with."

According to him the solution is comprehension.

Dave Meslin argues that apathy is often the result of social systems actively obstructing engagement and involvement. He suggests that we redefine social apathy as the result of  poorly designed systems that fail to invite others to participate.

In psychology, it is suggested that apathy is a common way to deal with disappointments, dejection, and a coping method to move forward in times of disappointments.

Once we are over the disappointments, we become engaged again.

Are you excited to be alive?

Is your life an adventure, a journey, a fabulous ride, a mystery, one amazing event after the other, a treasure trove?

Is your life predictable, pre-destined, sorted since you left high school, following in your parents footsteps, safety first, as good as it gets?

Are you doing the things you always wanted to do? Is waking up in the morning a new opportunity to do something you love doing, or is it the "same 'ol same 'ol?

Let's cut to the quick.......are you engaged or disengaged in your life?

It can be easy to become overwhelmed by all the information we receive daily through different media sources. Wars, crime, corruption, global warming, un-employment, financial crisis, poverty, starvation, and so on.... and perhaps the barrage of "bad news" can make even the hardened optimist convert to pessimism.

Is it really possible to live on this planet without becoming apathetic to a certain extent, one may ask.

"All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume", writes Noam Chomsky.

Perhaps we need to "rage against the machine", against indifference, against "sleep-walking", against governing bodies and media constantly tricking us into believing that we are helpless and powerless.

Perhaps we start in our own lives by ascertaining whether we are "living" our lives, cruising, or merely showing up.

"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life but that it bothers him less and less." (Vaclav Havel)

If you are sensing some apathy within you, here are a few suggestions:

If you are feeling apathetic, can you think of any reason(s) why? (Identify the source)

Can you do anything to change the reasons why?

Do something differently, something new, something you enjoy.

Challenge your habits.

Cultivate interests and hobbies, if you don't have any, find some....

 

Apathy costs.

Passion rewards.