THIS IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING I WROTE IN RESPONSE TO IZZY’S ORIGINAL POST HERE: http://izzytheartist.com/2008/11/30/get-your-family-on/

I THINK IT SAYS SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT, PARTICULARLY ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS, AND I’LL ADD MORE ABOUT THAT BELOW.

Izzy, the truth is—are you ready?—The truth is that we are in the midst of an unavoidable sociological technological tectonic shift away from deep and into shallow. We used to live in one place our whole lives never moving more than a few miles, and we KNEW that place. And we NEEDED our families because there wasn’t anybody else to depend on, and the world was a tough place back then, simple, but tough. But we KNEW our worlds back then. And now, who reads books when you can skim through glossy magazines with asses and tits popping out at you and just a few words in between? Who thinks deeply? Who needs to think deeply when we can skim and scan like androids can. And information is CHEAP, bra. And why listen to real people sing and rhyme when we can find the finest sound bite with the click of a key? Neurologists have discovered that our brains are changing, becoming better at the skin-deep and worse at the bone-deep.

What can we do? Go deep. Go deep. And know yourself, brother. Know yourself. Cuz if you don’t know who you are?

ADDENDUM: SO HERE’S THE DEAL.  THIS SHIFT TO THE SUPERFICIAL IS IN everything we do—we read less, have shorter conversations, hell, we even snack more and eat real sit down meals less.What troubles me most is that this tendency to be superficial has worked its way into our relationships over the last few decades. I don’t just mean our tendency to choose partners for solely superficial reasons; it’s our tendency to stick with someone as long as we get what we want out of them, then toss them aside by breaking up, divorcing, whatever. And when I date, I find myself looking for reasons to end it, not for reasons to stick around. It’s like I’m channel surfing for people. The only thing is that no one can live up to our societal expectations as created by the mass media. And that’s all WRONG. Only when I spend time to get to know someone, really know them for all the wonders they offer will I see that those wonders and the not so wonderful parts TOGETHER make up a real, complex, living, human being who deserves my love, my attention, my frustration, my shyness, my generosity, my anger, my sadness, my passion, my compassion, my hope, all of me.