Voyeurism

Human beings are naturally voyeuristic. And not just that, but we're explicitly inviting voyeurism into our own lives every day. If examples such as Facebook, LinkedIn and other networking sites are not enough - where every second a new person self-glosses their status or changes their profile picture - look at the books we read and shows we watch. Human beings, or perhaps just Americans, though I have a feeling this virus spans our entire race, love showing off and promoting a shiny self on the internet. We are narcissistic and want everyone to know how great we are. That's all well and good, I do the same thing, we blog, who the hell cares what I'm saying but I do it anyway because I believe what I'm saying is important enough to be read. That's good and bad, but that's a discussion for another time.

The voyeurism in humans is really most apparent in the reality shows we watch on T.V. This new obsession with The Biggest Loser, American Idol, The Real World, began in the 90s. I think we love these shows because humans don't want to feel lonely. We each have our problems, our internal struggles. This is the same theory that is behind PostSecret, a blog where people send in a postcard with their secret written on it and a handful are chosen to be posted each week. Time and again people comment saying they feel less alone knowing someone else has their secret. No one wants to feel isolated even if they are. It's the human condition to want company, therefore we are voyeurists. We watch the people on The Biggest Loser fail, triumph, eat their feelings, and we sit and feel better about our troubles because it is somehow validated in the fact that we are not the only person feeling that hardship. Human beings feel alone most of the time, I think, it requires a high-frequency mindfulness to reach the level of competency that in fact the last thing we are is alone. We're all together here spinning on this great blue planet. We all feel the ebbs and flows of the world's energy shifts and we contribute to those shifts.

Maybe instead of looking into someone elses life through the TV screen to feel connected we can reach out and talk to someone on a bus, or in a store. We can offer help or smile to a stranger on the sidewalk. Wouldn't that make everyone feel less lonely than reaffirming our loneliness as is done with the self-isolation of consuming television? Just a thought.