The Pull of Society

Breakfast at Tiffany's. No, not the Audrey Hepburn classic which I adore, but which is also drastically contorted from Truman Capote's epic short novel. Yes! The novel! Have you read it? Holiday Golightly easily makes my list of top ten fictional women of all time. Of course, no one could top Scarlett O'Hara. At least, not to my limited knowledge. Yet, Holly. Holly Golightly is a character! No pun intended. Capote created the paradox of society today and this book was written over fifty years ago!!! For every brain washing commercial, for every ego altering clothing ad, for every despicable yet brilliantly placed influence of today's "expectations" Holly laughed in the face of them. And not with a kind laughter but with a laughter that said, "Dear, I feel so sorry for you. For you, who give everything to be on the inside, lose everything inside of you getting there. You should have stayed on the outside." If you have never read this book, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you do so.
Have you ever thought of the rules which society begs of us to acknowledge, like, follow, even teach our children? What are they? That we train our daughters to remain a size 4 and to accept that they are not as pleasing to the aesthetic eye if they go above. To teach our sons that any sign of emotion is horrendous and a weakness or in essence, a great indicator of homosexuality. To ourselves believe that we should hold a steady job and own a house and 2 cars, marry and have 2.5 children, maintain a comfortable level of debt to live the lifestyle that society unfolds before us on the pages of magazines and in the font of reality shows. Is this normal? Or is this society's "normal"? I don't begrudge the steady job, nor even the fancy cars and the extravagant lifestyle - to those who can easily afford such. I do, however, rebel against the notion that these are the things I must own and the direction I should choose in my life and my children's in order to "fit in" and not be found wanting.
If I fit in anywhere, I prefer to fit in in my own skin, my own mind, my own satisfaction and to be honest to myself. As Holly Golightly states, "Honest-to-thyself-honest."
It goes against modern society to love life from conception on - but I do. It goes against modern society to love the marriage of one man and one woman - but I do. It goes against modern society to work through marital problems at all cost - but I do. And for a large majority of society, it goes against modern society to publicly acknowledge a personal relationship with God - and yet I still do. It goes against modern society to stay home and raise children - but I do. It goes against modern society to adhere to my husband's wishes - but I do. It goes against modern society to limit emotional attachments and personal connections - but I do. All these things are things that may seem minor in the pull that society has on us, but they are undercurrents of greater forces at work. It is the undercurrent of the swell of rivers and oceans that can be the most deadly. You don't see them or know they are there until you are in its grasp and then you are stuck floundering and perhaps even drowning.
The larger picture of what society wants from us is plain as day. It is in the school system, the fashion statements, Forbes top ten " " and everywhere we look. It is the more subtle and quiet influences we need to be aware of and beware of. For these are the things that erode morals, scruples, integrity, foundations, families, and even governments. Take note of the things that are dearest and most important to you - get to the root of WHY those things are, if you don't know, then perhaps they are important to you because society has quietly dictated that they be important to you. Find what is important to you because of what you are down to your very core. When society subtly pulls, dig in and pull back. Maintain sincerity and loyalty to your true self and not the self society would have you embrace.