Is Anybody Still Jumping For Joy?

                                      It's been over six months since my last blog on this page that I created. One of the reasons had to do that I felt there was more to be said through the medium of YouTube. However,as I'm sure most of you reading this now know I've decided to put off uploading anymore video blogs on YouTube for the time being. There are a number of reasons why. Through my own experiences in life,I'm convinced these videos contain enough inspiring (and hopefully enlightening) anecdotes to make a difference in at least the daily life. After a great deal of effort on my part to promote these videos to a wider audience,these video blogs were only getting a small number of views relative to what they deserved-to what a lot of people's good and important videos and blogs deserve.  Yes a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are too many people out there who want to spend more time looking for new ways to harass others and hurt their feelings. But at the very core,I feel the inherent reason for this lack of interest is pure joylessness.

                                    Joylessness is a quality I've observed gradually increasing in people over the course of the last couple of decades. Day to day life,from family to pop culture seems to celebrate and often almost advocate it . People used to find joy in creature comforts that may or may not have been good for them such as chocolate, alcohol and tobacco. All of these things have been shot down by the mass media with an enormous smear campaign combining basic truths about health with a massive guilt trip. Those who found happiness in travel have faced a equally similar fate,as the economy has effected the price of fuel to the point where a new and psychically destructive phenomenon has become heavily implemented: the "staycation". Most important from this end is how the joy of music in our lives has all but disappeared. Whether it be pop,hip-hop or alternative music,the main reason behind most of it seems to be to make money and exploit the listener in some way.

                                    To my eyes we're still very much living in an environment defined by schadenfreude,or without pretension as shameful joy. Between reality TV that is hanging on aggressively to popularity and the comedy of this time frame,people seem to find happiness and laughter at either the expense of others or the attempts of previous generations to help others feel happy. While it is true one should never force happiness on another,what happens when you discover you cannot feel it inside anymore? Psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety seem to be diagnosed in alarming numbers. Is there any wonder why? Personally I think we could all learn something from the 60's/70's counterculture in this regard. It's appropriate to take our dreams seriously. To look to music,art,literature and film to inspire us rather than merely empty our wallets. And one wonders how much good it would do if a lot of us,if we felt happy,just jumped in the air and shouted "YES!",and the people who might normally stare in disgust decided to join them. Joy for joy's sake is definitely something more than worth contemplating.