Values

I went to Miami over the weekend, and it actually unfortunately reminded me just how many issues I have with mainstream American culture. My values and priorities are vastly different than the average south beach partier. I don't like drinking, I'm considering more and more giving it up entirely. I dont like spending hundreds of dollars on brand name items just because someone somewhere decided that their name makes the same bag worth such an absurd amount of money. I don't like eating fast food or chain restaurant semi-fast food. I don't like obsessing over my body and filling it up with plastic and covering it with make up so that someone somewhere can decide that they like it. I don't like making small talk with a stranger just to get them into bed and I'm sick of people being so fascinated and intrigued by me because I actually read books and have something to say. I dont want to spend the entire day lathering up with baby oil until I turn red like a lobster in an effort to tan my skin becuase someone somewhere says thats beautiful when it will probably give me skin cancer and or wrinkles, especially when in other countries people spend all their money on whitening products; what an irony. I have no interest in reading People magazine and learning what celebrities and reality tv stars and random rich famous people do with each others boyfriends or how much plastic surgery they have. I'm noticing that I really don't fit into that culture and that going places like south beach miami or las vegas or even times square just are not my idea of a vacation. I wanted to see the real miami where all of the colombian and cuban immigrants live and where normal people live real lives not just superficial tourists flying in for a weekend of debauchery and tanning.

This trip if anything made me look forward to going to India this summer on a totally different type of vacation in a setting and with people who value what I do. I value mindfullness and being aware and thoughtful. I value eating healthily and remembering that you are what you eat and what you put in your body as a meal is what actually makes up your flesh and organs later on. I value talking to people and having real conversations and exchanges of life experiences and lessons. I value thinking about all the people in this world who are in need of help and people who care about using their time here on this earth to make life easier for others who need it the most. I value getting to know myself through meditation and writing and listening to my instincts. I value the long term and not just the immediate desires, but really considering what I want in the larger picture. sometimes i feel like the odd one out or lost to have such different priorities than many people especially in my age group and demographic. I like to read magazines like Body& Soul or Spirituality and health or Natural health, and I'm appreciative that enough people share those values to make those magazines.

I've bickered with two of my very best friends the last couple weeks about these differences in values and have had trouble learning to respect that they value some (not all or we wouldnt be friends!) of the first mentioned topics when I am so profoundly a person of the latter value system.