Does life seem surreal to you too?

I know what you're talking about and I was there for a long time. I coped with it in my own way that I won't discuss here.

I think the root of the issue is that people are so disconnected and de-humanized from each other. Everybody is wrapped up in their own little world, they don't care about others and their values are shot. I see people barely scraping by trying to pay the rent and put food on the table but they have $1,000 worth of tattoos, an expensive iPhone, an XBox and on and on and on. Misguided priorities, no human interaction with any real meaning. They feel the need to post on Facebook every time they do something or buy something because it is the only way they can stroke their own ego.

People have forgotten what is truly important and until they get that back, things will drift further and further from an integrated society.

reply to post by daynight42


If you did not have food in your belly a roof over your head you would know that life is real.. very real.

Your needs are met so you get bored and become disconnected from reality.. but once your needs are not met.... and everyday you need to figure out where to eat or where to lay your head for the night.. you quickly forget such drivel

You know what it is. It's the calm before the storm. The US is teetering on the brink of financial insolvency, islam is rising as a world power that threatens to swamp our freedoms in their rewritten history. The Russians and the Chinese are as paranoid as we are, but have had no hint of solidarity. Our most solid ally in the world, Israel, is facing down the guns and bombs of our common enemy without so much as a mention.
Hard times are coming. These are going to be times that will shape the world for the whole of the century and likely for much longer.
If you are young enough, fit enough, and thinking clearly stand up and join the military - or you'll be standing in your front yard waiting when they come for you and yours.

Hello Everyone on ATS

This is my first post and reply today

I've enjoyed reading all of the very interesting topics on ATS for over a year now.
Such an interesting site with great topics and posts. I never really thought about signing
up on ATS to post on any topics until today reading on the very interesting topic of this thread.

A lot of people are expressing a very similar thought process that most of us can relate too.
The strange times we are all living in now days.
Especially the rest of this year 2012 as we all hold our collective breaths, to see what will happen next.

I am going to post a few short poems I wrote several years back, I think will speak volumes to
many people. Hopefully they will help put some clarity and vision in lives that was not there before.

Also, I would like to thank everyone who has posted so honestly about how life is feeling to them now days.
There is no doubt that the thoughts presented are shared by many, many people today, myself included.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The New World Order


The time goes by,
as everyone wonders where
this high tech age will lead.
Starring into the electronic
memory box still seems kinda strange.

Spreading around the world,
at the lightning fast speed of greed.
As the electronic memory box
constantly records every deed.

Storing every bit of information.
Into some Gigantic Hal type
of super computer.
As though somehow we're all compelled,
to bring to life the movie.
2001 A Space Odyssey.

A One World Government
is where they say it all will lead.
Maybe the New World Order
super computer will short out before,
the devil can do his deed.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Flowers of Life


Flowers where not on my mind as I walked
out of my door today. But pink little
flowers caught my eye growing around the
base of a tree.
And they seemed to say, hey look at me.

Growing pink and pretty under the tree,
they made me think of all the beautiful
flowers I have seen through my life.
Such a gift of beauty little flowers are.

When all of the serious problems and
concerns of life weigh heavy on our minds.
It seems that just by some chance sort of
an accident. You'll get a glimpse of a
little flower smiling hey, look at me.

It's like the flowers are saying.
I know life is tough, that's why I'm here.
To bring the happiness, smiles and memories
back into your life again. Hey, look at me!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone who wants to read a few more, they can be seen at the link below.

sites.google.com...


Thanks, and may Gods Peace that pass's all understanding be with everyone through 2012 and beyond

Hell yeah I know what you're going through, pretty much to a tee, so I don't really have much to add because your story could just as well be my story.

I was talking to a friend today, nothing serious but he replied to a comment I made about his family not being as crazy as he thought it is because he turned out alright. He responded with "I guess I'm semi functional"... (He likes to down play his confidence and success). To which I replied, "Yeah, considering it's weird to be human."

And I've never said that before today, but it rings very true to me at this point in my life. I really don't know what's going on or how to explain it but I definitely feel a bit lost.

reply to post by daynight42


My friend, I know exactly how you are feeling and everything you just wrote pretty much took the thought out of my head. I have felt like this for a very long time to the point I really just don't give two hoots anymore. Sometimes I go sit down the coffee shop and just watch everyone else and wonder how they can do it. It seems so hard to just mingle in with the crowd and walk around with a smile on my face.

Even when i am trying to do the things I enjoy, it is the same these days. I can't enjoy it because it feels pointless. I sit here and watch the days go by because nothing in this place can inspire me except for my kids. I am a lost cause but I love the fact nobody notices me and wants me to participate in their childish activities. The trivial crap does not interest me.

I have a very serious heart and I don't think the people where I am could listen to it without being offended... My anger has risen because of their stupidity, I have lost control on occasions and I cannot explain why. It would offend to many people. I keep to myself and continue to sit back with the notepad and watch the show... There is no inspiration here right now. Things seem normal here but it is just a repeating record.. boring and lifeless.

I even look at some of the expressions on some of the peoples faces.. it says it all. Some happy, some like they are also in limbo. Its sad and I feel it all.

Originally posted by daynight42
. I'm just looking to see if anyone else has felt similar.

Wow, yes. Exactly how I feel sometimes. It takes everything I have just to keep going in this dream-world reality show. I don't understand how others can be so oblivious. The Fixx said it like this:

Sitting there eating your heart out
Jealous of people who don't seem to question life
Caught in a maelstrom, missing the moment
Rhyme without reason, chained to your bed
Should have done this, would have done that
Superficial life always finds you in a trap
Still you judge, bear the grudge, anyway

Best thread I've read in a while and really resonated with me. I feel the exact same way and I think about it at least once a day on the train/drive to work, and/or at work. S&F

reply to post by 2serious


Is that video meant to be watched? I think you must of missed something when trying to link it up..

When I see people going about their daily lives it reminds me of when my children were young and I would watch them playing.They were so serious about whatever it was they were playing. I watch people and see them being so serious about their lives here and I think how unenlightened and clueless they are about the things that really matter. It`s sad to see them wasting their lives on trivial things like the pursuit of materialistic gains and trying to make themselves look important or informed etc.
They are like children playing in a sandbox and completely consumed with their make believe world that they are completely blind to how unimportant and trivial it all is in the grand scheme of things.

reply to post by DarknStormy


don't know what happened, but it's working on my end?!? Yes, it's a good song.
here is the URL:
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Tardacus


Sometimes when I have though about it deeply, I have pretty much just wanted to take myself out to the bush and scream my lungs out where no-one can hear me. I have tried to explain the best i can what is going on but everytime you get frowned upon or riticuled. I am tired from trying and now I am just in my world and that is all that matters to me. I just hope one day, one event will show those lost souls what is happening. I can't, unfortunetly it is going to take a major tragedy to show them how I feel and for them to see what is really important.

reply to post by daynight42


IMO, you are a deep person; and, as being such, you naturally expect others to be and do as you do. Many people become accustomed to their beliefs; and, will fight to maintain them, often over tons of evidence contradicting them. They may not be as sympathetic or caring as you "expect" them to be.
When you challenge someone's belief system, most will not listen and rationalize what they 'want' to believe. You could be making others around you uncomfortable, by creating "cognitive dissonance". Not all people love the truth, either. If you buy this theory, it is explained below.

Cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting cognitions (e.g., ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions) simultaneously. In a state of dissonance, people may feel surprise, dread, guilt, anger, or embarrassment.[1] The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions, adding new ones to create a consistent belief system, or alternatively by reducing the importance of any one of the dissonant elements.

Wiki

Additionally, arrogant and dominating people may throw this back on you. They call you a whacko or something-anything getting you to question your beliefs-propelling you into dissonance.

I'm not really sure what to believe, so I have conviction in all my conflicting beliefs, by keeping an open mind. Or, by realizing that no human really has the answer to the really deep stuff, but that we must find our own truth from within, whether it dissonates other people or not.



A few paraphrased quotes from the bible. ( I am not a thumper; but, i do not deny there is wisdom there, regardlesss of how it's pitched.)

"They are like rags unto my sight."
This is God speaking, about us; and, from reading your post, I would venture that you can identify with this sentiment.

"A Leopard never changes his spots."
People don't really change much.

"Be a light unto others, so that they may follow"
It really doesn't do much good trying to change people by confrontation, but by walking the walk and living by your convictions, others may start to take notice.

Fear of change is a powerful force to deal with. Radiate from within and stop worrying if other people don't get it. Put yourself in thier shoes and find a way to spread the truth in ways that they can digest.

In short, a lotta people wanna believe the TV. It comforts them to feel like everything is ok, while the world is falling to pieces! You are not alone-Ya found this place didn't ya?

reply to post by Phenomium

You deserve some kind of medal for this post! Well done, sir. Well done

reply to post by ogbert


yeah thats Ok, but what about working together, sorting things out that need to be sorted out.. We can't do that by simply looking deep into ourselves and giving ourselves a false impression that we can save the world by ourselves. We need people to understand what is happening on this planet at this very moment in time. We need to find a way to work together and at least try to fix the problems that others created and won't fix..

We keep copping the same dribble year in, year out, old government, new government. They are the real problem and most likely the reason why people feel like this. They have turned our societies into disgusting pigs who would rather spend their day at work followed by another shift looking at a computer or phone screen, window shopping, being greedy and arrogant towards others who may not be as good as them.

Our society has a crack in it and I seriously believe it was not an accident. We need to find a way to fix that crack and show people that we are one and that it doesn't matter what the others do, we can work together and get things back to or the way they should be. It is unbelievable that entire civilisations can sit back and watch their brothers/sisters, country folk or anyone in the world suffer the way they do. Even if people do not agree with each other, communicating with each other is at least a start. But even now, I can't see that happening.. All we can do is hope one day there is a mass awakening.

Even then, it will be a pointless peaceful protest and then we will be back to paragraph 2 of this post. Something needs to change. Something needs to happen. The ones who run around with the smiles on their faces can't make it happen, they think this is great while I sit here depressed and wonder what the hell the point of this life is.. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I know many are not happy with our government over here, but they think an opinion poll will fix everything for them, and I'm sorry but again we go back to paragraph 2... Our society are brainwashed and something needs to happen to awaken those people.

Sorry if this post seems irrational or anything else, but I really don't know what to do anymore. the more I see those people, the more depressed i become. Its like watching mice on a spinning wheel, A colony of ants serving a queen, I don't know... What we are doing is unenlightened dumb bs and I have had enough of it. Sometimes I wish I would get hit by a car, at least it would put me out of my misery

reply to post by DarknStormy


Hey I hear ya. I was bitchin about all the bad news on the TV 35 years ago. In fact, i have lived most of my adult life, from the outside looking in. But, over the years, I have noticed progress. What I have seen is that some people wake up only after personal tragedy; and, the way things are going there may be some rude awakenings around the corner. In the 90's I said it would take a major depression for people to wake up in this country. As, long as people believe the dream is alive, they will chase it, as they did in the dot com and real estate debacles.

I have lost friends because I warned them about things in the market. When those things occurred, you would think that they would have thanked me. NO, it was the opposite-they saw it as an ego challenge they lost, which it was not at all.

My points were validated after 911; and, some of the people who opposed my ideas are in consensus now.

Also, i have had people listen, who followed my suggestions and came out on top. But, of course it was always their idea, after the fact.

I guess my point is that if you want people to see your point of view; it is better that they think the idea came from themselves. Suppositions are very powerful in that regard. Subconsciously, they will always remember you for the suggestion, but they usually take credit for your idea for themselves.

Generally, i was wondering where all the outrage was in the eighties and the nineties? I have to say that the pendulum is moving very fast now; and, that the idea of freedom is rapidly spreading. There has been a tremendous amount of awakening as compared to only 15 years ago. Hopefully, it will reach more momentum that the corporate control structures will.

Perhaps, if you coordinate with more like minded people, you can find the working together that you desire? Somewhere I read that only 10% of the population supported the first American Revolution. When you surround yourself with people of like mind--consensus grows.

reply to post by daynight42


I think it's a bit like apathy. I go through spurts. Apathy usually kicks when I've taken too much crap from people. I tend to be a giver and give too much to those who don't deserve it. So I get to the point where I just give up and don't care anymore.

There are days when I've had dreams all night long and the world the next day seems, fuzzy - a lil hazy. Like you described, like I haven't woken up yet. Or like I hadn't slept at all.

Hopefully you snap out of it. Mine comes and goes. As an empathic sort of person, I find sometimes I am overwhelmed from energies around me - that can kick apathy into high gear. I'm going through phase like that too. Just don't care about certain things. I think we all experience that at some point. good luck.

I have been lurking ATS for a couple months now, just learning and gathering information. I hadn't really planned on joining yet another forum, but after i saw this post i felt like it was meant to be.

Literally all of my life I've felt exactly how the OP has, even back when i was 6 or 7 I can remember thinking about why we were really here and i would get this strange feeling (Looking back and trying to describe it, i would say it felt mostly like a high), of course then i had no idea what the feeling was, and my thoughts of life were so basic. Once i got into middle school and eventually high school those thoughts were replaced by normal high school #; when am i getting laid next, where am i going to tell the parents im going tonight, who am i going to call to get the liquor, etc, etc.

I've now been out of high school for 2 years. I took the first year off and just worked as much as i could to save up some money, and figure out my path. It was in that year that these feelings came back. I would do EXACTLY as you stated in the OP; everywhere i would go, i would just notice people and how they were all acting in sequence, almost like they all have the exact same mind set. All my friends that i have i eventually lost because i would be thinking so in depth about anything and everything going on in the world and they would be trying to watch a Heat game, or finding some beer for the night. It's almost like a hopelessness feeling, they are all so stuck on their small time problems (that wouldn't even matter if the world wasn't superficial) and there is nothing I could say or do to change the fact.

Sometimes i will seriously start to think that it is all a big game. Like EVERYONE else was put here, around me to act as they do and try to suck me into that style of living. And my test is to figure out this elaborate equation, and then it would be over. Or maybe there are a select few people that think this way, and as a whole we were placed on earth to figure something out. Obviously nobody knows what that is, but maybe the Masons or possibly even Illuminati have figured it out. (Idk much about these groups, other than the fact that they are secret societies.)

I've started to dislike people so much that i switched from taking normal college classes to strictly online classes. I am a halfway decent entrepreneur so i began buying/selling/trading stuff online as my job source. I am engaged and i have a small house, and can continue living this way with no financial burdens or worries, but I also find myself asking if this is just part of me growing up and if the phase will be over soon and i will learn to just not care about that stuff when im around the general population. I no longer want to just DEAL with life. I don't want to be a robot going to school then work, then home to sleep only to wake up and do it all over again.

I'm very lost right now. If someone has been in my position before and got through it, please let me know what you did. I haven't read all the posts in this thread yet so there may be some good help already.

Sorry in advance if my english isn't good or my topics seem scattered. Numbers are my thing, not words, but i just want to see if someone else was experiencing this.

Thank you so much for that . That is EXACTLY how I feel. I really don't know where to go from this point. I'm pretty much just waiting for something to happen. Something to change . :/ you are most definitely not alone. Thanks again.

Originally posted by WhereAreWe7


Sometimes i will seriously start to think that it is all a big game. Like EVERYONE else was put here, around me to act as they do and try to suck me into that style of living. And my test is to figure out this elaborate equation, and then it would be over. Or maybe there are a select few people that think this way, and as a whole we were placed on earth to figure something out. Obviously nobody knows what that is, but maybe the Masons or possibly even Illuminati have figured it out. (Idk much about these groups, other than the fact that they are secret societies.)

edit on 26-6-2012 by WhereAreWe7 because: spelling errors

Yeah. Very well put. I have been an independent contractor or independent business person my entire life. I walked away from a corporate position that some would drool over. I have always had competition from others who work normal jobs for some reason. Right now I have been a hermit for 3 years, working on my art. i seem to get a lot of unsolicited advice; and, people are always trying to change me, which ticks me off!

I am wondering if any of you have a pisces moon? Someone once told me that because I have a moon in pisces, that I have to feel that there is a grand purpose for my life A lot of that rings true.

I'm very lost right now. If someone has been in my position before and got through it, please let me know what you did.

Yes, I have been there.

I would have to say that as a free thinker, you can never really end the battle;and, you will only waste energy trying. To me it's like an endurance test. If you stay quiet-people challenge you. If you speak out-they challenge you. Definitely strengthens your resolve. I don't care if I am right or wrong, just wish people would stop projecting/dumping on me at times.

On another note, I feel we should guard against complacency and apathy. After a good recharge with a bit of solitude , I am ready to go out and do battle again.

So, yeah, i get discouraged with other people at times, but I get over it. Then again, there are some people I have to avoid altogether.