Just for a moment, one random moment, I felt like something was missing in my life made more noticeable by the fact that I 'had everything'.
I'd just checked in my ticket for the catamaran to start my visa run, I had a nice little rucksack on with a fully-charged laptop inside, loads of money in the bank with more work coming up, an awesome pair of Ray Ban's on, I'm young and good looking. I have the kind of lifestyle and opportunity many people dream about.
Yet I didn't feel complete, even a little hollow like something was profoundly missing. Not happy. 'A family' I thought. If I had a family, would I still have this feeling from time to time? Maybe, maybe not...
At the same time in that moment, as I was walking along to buy a breakfast that was probably worth an average Thai's daily wage, it felt like I was getting a real taste of what it feels like to be stinking rich and unhappy. You know the classic story of the rich person with all the material wealth in the world, yet they're distinctly unhappy, chronically depressed even. It happens, you see it all the time on tv. And so was borne the theory as follows:
When you are preoccupied with material things, money-worries, or any of the normal life challenges that occupy your mind day to day, you have many things to blame any sense of hollowness or unhappiness on. However, when you have everything you need, anything that is missing is brought blatantly into the spotlight and you can't get away from it. And this is the sort of feeling I experienced today I think.
And perhaps the sort of core human needs we have are easily lost in today's preoccupation with money, jobs, living circumstances etc. It's easily done in western society - it's difficult, even, just to maintain a simple and stable lifestyle. In poorer nations it's often the other way round - they often have a simple stable lifestyle in a small rural village. Not much money or material wealth but they have their simple human needs catered for, such as family and community.
These core human needs are perhaps what is missing from my life and from these 'stinking rich unhappy types' lives. And when a need is so fundamental and so human, when this is brought into the spotlight, it's profound and impossible to get away from. You're a captive audience with the elephant in the room tied down on the stage. There's no chitter-chatter in the room - you're the only audience and you have no commitments or pressing needs to attend to, so you have no excuse to leave. You're forced to stare at the elephant on the stage until...
