Are we really? I was privileged to go to Starehe for high school. Now as far as associations and disparities go, it doesn't get bigger than Starehe. That school has like a thousand students. Literally. The whole brotherhood theme is so hammered it's like it's up there on the list [of priorities] and academic success comes a close second. We all live in the same rooms - prefects, captains, high schoolers and collegers. There is no such thing as bullying. We eat at the same tables (most of us anyway). We live by the same rules (although here I should probably add seemingly). We don't put on the same uniform, but the times when it needs to be on are the same for everyone. We are taught to share, to depend on one another, morally, mentally and physically. We are taught that the differences we see are only superficial, and that deep down inside, we're all the same. That when the game ends the king and the pawn all go back to the same square. That we're all the same color once you turn out the light. But best of all, after all this education is done, the final decision to relate is left up to the individual. No one gets forced or otherwise compelled. Those who want to be snobs can actually be snobs, and the social bees can do their thing. So if you leave the school having learnt anything, it will be because you chose to, and those are the lessons that stay with us for a lifetime. It was in Starehe that I first heard the long version of no man is an island: No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...Therefore send not to find out for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. (or something like that)
I think mostly the thing we're afraid of in relationships, is the possibility of getting hurt. Apparently if you don't expect anything you don't get disappointed. While they last, judging by consensus, relationships and friendships are the isht. But when they end, there are few feelings that are worse. I guess they called it a heartbreak for a reason. It would seem then that every song's gotta end some time, but is that reason not to enjoy the music? It could also be a question of misplaced priorities. In today's world, money seems to be that answer to all of life's problems. Get enough of it and there's really nothing, or no one, else you need. That those who say money cannot buy you happiness don't know where to shop. The American actor Groucho Marx once implored the Good Lord, "All I want, God, is a chance to find out for myself if money really doesn't buy happiness." Modern society even has a skewed view of family - father, mother and children. Strictly. These days we don't so much live together as simply coexist. We're all just victims of circumstance in where we find ourselves. Is it us? Are we our own worst enemy? George Bernard Shaw may have been right:
As we strain to grasp the things we desire, the things we think will make our lives better - money, popularity, fame - we ignore what truly matters. The simple things. Like friendship, family, and love. The things we probably already had.END
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