Every day is a school day as someone once said to me. And it is very true. Each day gives us a fantastic opportunity to reflect on life, our behaviour and attitude. It is true that it is not always easy to change as we all have a personality and unique DNA, which in many ways defines how we act or conduct ourselves in a wide range of situations.
A week or so ago, I was having a conversation with a few work colleagues. It was nice, informal as one of our staff members was about to start a maternity leave. It was a very positive experience, for a number of reasons. In order to build a strong team, it is really important to find these small moments to create a space where people can freely talk and get to know each other. In addition, not always having an agenda does help!
During our 1-hour long gathering, we covered all sorts of topics; upbringing, the usage of mobile phones, education, mentoring, food and cooking. I found one of the comments particularly striking; do we really live in a “microwave society”?
We rush, we have no time to look after “number one” and one another. The ongoing challenges in relation to finances don’t help. It is becoming impossible to make ends meet. We often work at two places to pay the bills and keep the head above water. It is true that quite a few things around us suffer as a result of it; cooking a meal together is a story of the past. Modern technology doesn’t help either. Everything is ready for us, we don’t have to think but only read a label and put a meal in a microwave, oven or an air-fryer. We want everything, often now. Has it all affected our ability to develop essential life skills? How does it impact our lives and our potential to develop our competence, expertise in some key areas?
Furthermore, I wonder that although we claim to be so close to one another, due to un-limitless access to social media platforms, we are actually far from each other. The hugely important element of human closeness has diminished and been replaced by a mobile phone, iPad. Only a few weeks’ ago, I was talking to a mum of a teenager, who said that he preferred to play the Xbox at home, than go to his friend’s house, as they can quicker and easier interact online.
We all know that nothing happens overnight. Famous runner, Usain Bolt, once said that we had to train 4 years to run under 10 seconds. Have we forgotten that we need to help our luck? Have we been too detached from realising that most often, we can achieve success through hard-work, ongoing commitment to our dreams and life ambitions? It is unlikely that we can build anything sustainable without a sacrifice. A meal cooked from scratch tastes so much nicer, not only because they are fresh, but because the process of making it, which involves communicating with family members, chopping all the ingredients, generates a gigantic window of opportunities to create a sense of purpose and belonging in our lives.
I hope that we will try to remain authentic, open to some of our vulnerabilities, which can help us grow and flourish as individuals and as a society as a whole. We must seek moments, in order to rebuild trust in one another, to deepen our relationships, to be the first to make a step, and try to look at each person with new eyes. This is how we can truly become a compassionate and inter-linked human family.
* Michal Siewniak is a Lib Dem activist and councillor for Handside ward, Welwyn Hatfield.
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3 Comments
You mention that “it is becoming impossible to make ends meet”. That is becoming true at most income levels – not just those with relatively low incomes but also those with above average incomes. In many cases this is because, as you say “we want everything, often now.”
I think part of this is to do with expectations and part to do with a ‘standard of living ratchet effect’. Expectations is easy – other people have this, get this, can afford this, so I expect to be able to ‘have this or get this’ as well…and if I don’t have sufficient income I find myself in credit card debt or building up an overdraft so I can ‘have it, get it’ as well. ‘Standard of living ratchet effect’ works like this – income rises/mortgage rate falls, and people increase spending commitments to make the most of their incomes. However, when incomes get squeezed by inflation, less overtime, increased mortgage rates, people find it difficult to cut back on things they have become used to.
So, we can never lift people out of constantly feeling they are struggling to make ends meet unless we can start to change their mindset. Increasing incomes, in itself, will not make people feel more able to make ends meet as they will merely increase spending and still feel tight as the end of the month approaches
“I found one of the comments particularly striking; do we really live in a “microwave society”?”
I’m not sure the term “microwave society”’ is appropriate.
What is wrong with cooking using a microwave?
It’s perfectly possible to cook a meal from basic ingredients using a microwave.
It’s extremely energy-efficient.
@ Nonconformistradical – “microwave society”
Good question to ask just what does this mean.
About the only consensus from various writers on the internet is that is about “wanting everything instantly” with some suggesting that satisfying the want before it is forgotten/overtaken by another distraction is the most important thing.
With respect to business this means “fast and furious”, an affliction very common in startups who think they must have venture capital and so can “big bang” rather than develop a business.
Naturally such an approach (the “microwave”) ultimately leads to dissatisfaction as people run out of money etc. or like a sugar/drug rush, discover the emptiness of the post high…