Being Boring

Jody Patterson touches on something I've been thinking about, perhaps since the first time I was in India, perhaps earlier. It's wonderful that we, as Canadians, have clean water we can drink from our taps, but at the same time we're missing out on the chaos, messiness and uncertainty of real life in many ways.

In our desire to protect ourselves from violence and disasters, we've also protected ourselves from profanity, social discomfort, and saying hello to strangers. We've smoothed the rough edges of life and ended up with something safe, but shapeless.

Instead of genuine social interactions, we've become consumers at franchise chains. Instead of being true to our own selves, we've conformed in order to fit in.

Certainly, safety from violence and disasters is a great thing, but we should be careful not to become boring.