Feel free to pass judgment on my time management skills… but yes, I did just watch all 6 seasons of LOST in about 6 weeks time. Friday night, I saw the finale.
But don’t click away yet, this post is *not* commentary on theories of storytelling, or applied spirituality from one heck of a good show. It’s just another one about people and hope.
I got so wrapped up in the island and the physics and the Jacob and the backstories and the startling number of miraculously healed gunshot wounds and the 4 8 15 16 23 42… and pretty much lost my focus. I had stopped reading. (That’s a big deal.)
Since school ended for me, my social interaction has been limited to my church and my family/group of friends. I still see a couple of friends from my major when I can (they are awesome) but I lost my perspective of what life is like for those outside of weekly Jesus-talking time and playing music on the porch all the time.
Then I worked in the kitchen at HyVee for two weeks. I hadn’t had a job like that since high school, so I wondered if it was just that place. But friends working at Olive Garden, some retail stores in town, and a t-shirt shop all confirmed: complaining is the norm. Grumbling and unhappiness define conversations. It’s expected that you do not like being at work. This really surprised me because I was happy to be able to pay rent!
I had people to talk to and help me do things!
I had a reason to bike every day!
And all this work and money would go toward one of the greatest adventures of my life!
The first few days, I hummed my favorite songs as I worked and reviewed verses to memorize during my breaks. But all of the complaining started to wear on me. I joined in the complaining, or at least agreed with people who’d constantly comment on “how much this place sucks.” And I think it was easier to fall into that when I went home to three straight episodes of confused castaways rather than reminding myself of my purpose.
This isn’t the only thing that has had this effect on me. You… really… don’t want to get me started on the Harry Potter series. Or my anthropology theory class.
But for those who don’t have a mentor/best friend/family-type group of people tugging at their heart and pushing them consistently towards a deeper purpose… that entertainment or crappy job or gossip is kind of all there is. I was reminded of that when I read PostSecret yesterday. I focused on this site for a research project, but that’s a story for a different blog. The collection from this week were some of the most hopeful they’ve ever been. One postcard revealed a person’s plan to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and eleven thousand people responded with words of encouragement and hope.
Those surface-level conversations are not all there is, even if it’s all that comes out among coworkers. It took a simple online art project for people to reach out to someone desperate to feel like they belonged.
I think that’s what we all really want–to feel like we belong and make others feel that way. These countries we’ll be living in during the Race are some of the most marginalized of the global community. But in the meantime, the kind of poverty of spirit here in the States is worth focusing on.
-Katie
