Celebrity Faces: "The Common Struggle"

@blitheSun94

When I went for interviews for a scholarship at NYU for psychology, one of the items I had to submit was a rather lengthy description of something, in the field, that interested me and that I might do my dissertation on; I chose addiction.

From my vantage point, all sentient being are communally connected by the fact that in one way or another, we are all suffering. It is absolutely rational, normal, and sane to want that suffering to stop. All too often, rather than looking at the actual causes of our suffering, we merely look for temporary things that seem to alleviate our suffering, but in fact cause us, and usually others that care about us, more suffering. We turn to food, sex, alcohol, drugs, or anything new and shiny to distract us without considering the actual cause(s) of our suffering.

I personally only differentiate these distractions as to ones that are, in the short or long term, destructive or not. I read & write as an escape. It is still a temporary escape, although it is not, or less?, harmful. People write or listen to music, or create art. They are all temporary distractions from the suffering we endure.

So, what is the answer? Is there something that universally creates the conditions for people to find inner peace? Probably not. One thing that I have studied, and partake of myself, is meditation. There are probably thousands of different flavors of meditation. The movie director & artist, David Lynch, had a foundation that teaches Transcendental Meditation and some studies and anecdotal reports show that it works for Veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress System and for school-age students in some of the worst areas. I do not claim that this is the type of meditation that "works". (It is not the particular type that I practice-- but that is irrelevant.) There is a wonderful story & documentary on Vispanna meditation that was brought into prisons in the United States and prisons in other countries. That has also shown to help many.

Perhaps meditation is not the panacea. I'm not wise enough to offer any answers, just my personal observations. Anger is eating away at people across socio-economic groups. People not taking responsibility for the vast implications of their actions is eating away at people across socio-economic groups. These are just two things that, to me, seem to keep people from finding Peace and perpetuate suffering.

I have no answers, yet I do know that doing nothing doesn't work. I believe that this needs to be investigated on a large scale. We must ask the questions and wade through the multitude of possible answers.