27 April 2011

Delusions and Illusions of Stability

People come and go in our lives, always. For one reason or another, there is often a reason to leave and continue onward without the people that were so important up to that moment.

Here in Chile, thhe process appears to be accelerated. I meet someone, make friends, and then for some reason or another they disappear and go to a new city to work or study...often without time to even say goodbye. They seem to drift quickly and without warning, and everyone seems accustomed to the sudden changes.

It got me thinking about stability in life. In my life in the States, things appear mostly stable. Similar things happen every year. Governments change but nothing changes that much on the municipal level. Things have a certain rhthym and people are more or less consistent. Goodbyes are as important as they are rare.

But suppose that the stability is all an illusion? Even with all that consistency, the possibility of massive rapid changes is ever-present. People graduate. They move. They break up. They occasionally get hit by buses.

People here appear to have accepted and internalized that there is no real stability or consistency in life. I believe that this must play into the mentality of "al tiro or never" that everything has here. You have to do things in the moment they come up or changing circumstances of instability will prevent it.

In Chile there is no illusion of stability. And it might just be better that way. No pretending that things will always be the same when, without fail, they will not. Carpe diem...for example by going to a Chilean aerobics class suddenly and dancing my butt off. Doing exactly what I can do with what I have in the time I am given without wastingg time.

I am learning, I swear.

1 comment:

  1. Stabability is especially hard for those of us that have lost loved ones at an early age. Its hard to become attached when your always thinking that your going to loose someone. We live in a tranisitory world, it used to be that we grew up somewhere got a job in the same area and had a family in a 50 mile radius. Now many have to go away for education or economic opertunities. Its why its important to have family and friends that truly love us and can provide for a base of support.

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