Fast-paced Change

Journal Entry: 1-03-2012: As the economy, technology and material prosperity continue to abound and multiply, these rapid transformations easily erode away family, personal and traditional mores until personal customs are so altered that the traditional practices from whence they sprang disappear or seem quaint and unrecognizable. I am an activist. I am in favor of progress and adapting in most instances. I am all about soaring to greater heights. But it is most perilous for people, including adults and especially children, require mooring in those traditional ways. On one hand we must challenge and fight to improve our customs, rituals and traditions. On the other hand we must battle to retain, honor and take note of our traditional ways for the sake of emotional comfort. Continuity and stability are vital if we are not to lose our sense of who we are, where we come from and where we are going amidst the whirlwind of perpetual change in which we ambulate. We seek traditional ways and practices to fend of feelings of isolation, solipsism, depression, alienation, loneliness, anomie, uprootedness, feelings of abandonment and meaninglessness.To be rooted is to be happy, connected and content. To feel cut off from our ancestors and their ways can lead ultimately to a damaging loss of self-esteem. If our self-worth further deteriorates, we can be encompassed and imbued with such powerful feelings of self-loathing that we get lost in some ism. The most dangerous condition for society occurs when millions of shriveled souls seek relief from their wretched lives by surrendering all they have and are to some cause, demagogue, mass movement or, politically, allying themselves with and working for a totalitarian central government. Customs are not just appealing--they are useful. We would be wise to hold onto them and celebrate them in fast-paced, bewildering world.