The growth of the internet has brought about an explosive increase in the availability of information, and a huge upsurge too in the use of media, especially social media – we really can peer into the lives of other people far more frequently and intimately now than we ever could before.
One consequence of this growth in the internet and media is that they can create and feed desire and envy – wanting to be the Kardashians or to have what they have is probably at the extreme end of that feeling, but generally wanting to have or to be what others have or are – because we can see what they choose to show us of their lives through the internet – is common.
The feeling is nothing new, of course – the phrase, ‘keeping up with the Jones’ originates with the comic strip by that name that was created by Arthur R. ‘Pop’ Momand in 1913. But the Jones’ literally lived next door in 1913; in 2023, ‘next door’ is anywhere on the planet. Which brings me to the point of this blog, that we really do not need to strive to be ‘extraordinary’ – we should not be devastated if we don’t create a Turner Prize-winning sculpture, or invent a cure for cancer, or run the 100m in 9 seconds flat. Those are extraordinary things and it may well be great if we were able to do them, but only a shrinkingly small number of people will ever do things of that magnitude – which leaves the other c. 7.5 billion of us never doing them.
But we can all look for, and find, the extraordinary in the ordinary.
William Martin puts it beautifully in his book, ‘The Parent’s Tao Te Ching’.:
Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
