Human Vs. Civilisation
The more I learn, the higher my conviction is that as humans, our greatest struggle arises from context. Context… our physical, social, spiritual and cultural surrounds and influences. From our very beginning we are at the mercy of our environment. How others relate to us, the stories about our world, our history and our future we are exposed to, our safety or lack thereof, and the ubiquitous intensity of media and advertising messaging. Steeped in these specific narratives, we develop with such context as our compass. It becomes our point of reference for determining our acceptability, worth, definition of success, behavioural repertoire, and ultimately, our wellbeing.
The way in which civilisation has violently disconnected human existence from our prehistoric lifestyle, seems to me to be central to understanding the level of suffering in our world.
My recent reflection has motivated me to write a series of blogs that unpack this idea.. to frame contemporary human difficulties through this lens. I will write my reflections to make sense of the presence of suffering within anxiety, parenting, relationships, loneliness, ageing, addiction and adolescence from this perspective.
Of course this is not an original idea, and there exists a multitude of theories that posit the same argument. Notably, functional contextualism serves as the basis for the therapeutic approach of Acceptance and Commitment Theory. It is no surprise that this approach forms the basis of my own therapeutic work with clients.
I leave you with a question to consider that may prompt your own reflections. An invitation to reflect upon the role of context within your own life. Permission to reconsider any self-blame when stuck in the pain of loneliness, stress, poor body image, a negative relationship with food or weight, or the pervasive angst of feeling ‘not good enough’.
Anthropological research has consistently converged upon the idea that individuals within a hunter-gatherer society worked an average of 3 hours per day. Just imagine how your mood, energy, health leisure, general wellbeing and relationships may be different if your work day was finished in three hours. This extends further when the type of work is considered, as generally work comprised the kind of activities that form many people’s leisure pursuits today (fishing, hunting etc.), and was always undertaken in the context of social connection. Sounds nice, right?
