A Society of Meh.

According to the Webster's Dictionary app on my cellular phone, the word "meh" is defined as a word used to express indifference and mild disappointment. It was first used in 1994, according to the same app. However, Wikipedia, often not the most reliable source, says that it was first used in 1992 and is considered a verbal shrug of the shoulders.

I love words. You have to, if you want to be a writer. I've used the word "meh" on several occasions. Today it struck me, that we live in a society that is meh. 

I ain't no Dr. Phil or anything, but it appears that our society is losing the ability to feel.  We're losing the feelings on the edges of the feeling spectrum.  There are fewer highs and lows and we're all settling around "meh."  Meh is so dominant in our society, that it has crept into every aspect of our lives.  We don't think.  We don't feel.  We don't live.  We merely survive, exist, move about everyday shuffling from home to work, then back home again.  We warm up our microwave meals, sit in our chairs, watch whatever is on the television.  We believe what the news sources tell us and we shrug our shoulders with indifference, shuffling off to bed. 

Pinterest, Buzzfeed and the "how to lists" are killing our reliance on following our gut instincts.  Just today on Facebook, I saw "Signs That You are a Defensive Dater," "Five Things That Kill Relationships" and "21 Struggles of Being Single."  These are the things that we read daily.  These are the articles that are steering us.  There is no need to identify your feelings anymore.  Just wait long enough and someone will post an article telling you how you should feel. 

I'm still not Dr. Phil, and really, why would I want to be?  But I have learned from personal experience, that feelings are vital to my life.  I need the bad feelings; the sad, the lonely, the hopeless, just as much as I need the high feelings; the happy, the content, the accomplished.  When I get out of kilter, have more lows than highs, or highs than lows, it makes for an unhealthy human existence.  And that's the thing about a society of meh, it slowly kills of our human-ness. 

Human beings are meant to have various feelings.  Our feelings change from moment to moment, from day to day.  They are supposed to.  As we go about our day, interacting with others, our internal feeling meter wavers back and forth.  I may experience a mostly happy day, then read an article that makes me feel sad.  This is good.  That means that I'm aware of multiple feelings.  It is healthy to experience a range of them frequently. 

It is also in our nature, as humans, to desire to be comfortable.  The problem with this, is that our world has become too comfortable.  Technology and retail businesses have learned that making us comfortable is very profitable.  Unfortunately, we've become so comfortable that we have lost those fringe feelings. 

Once again, the last bastion of human feelings, rests in the hands and minds of the artists, the writers, the creative folks.  As a writer, it is crucial that I be able to identify what I'm feeling.  The stronger feelings, whether high, or low, are usually the springboards of some of my best work.  Without these feelings, I would only write "meh" work.  I don't want to write "meh" work.  I don't want to write things that make folks shrug their shoulders.  I want to write things that grab your attention.  I want to write things that cause you to stop and think.  I want to write things that inspire, make you feel, remind you that you're human.  I can't do those things if I'm constantly ignoring my feelings. 

Likewise, you can't fully enjoy an enriched human experience, unless you learn to find your feelings.  Take some time each day to stop, think, see what you're feeling.  Identifying your feelings just might be the most important thing you learn to do.  Shrug off the "meh" and learn to live.