the thin line.

there was a song in the late eighties about a 'thin line between love and hate'. i don't think i understood what it really was about, but i seem to have realized in the meantime that there are thin lines all around, between all the things within and without. the act of crossing these lines is an easy, everyday routine. we do it countless times, in many ways. are we really taught, and do we really teach, how to restrain from crossing the boundaries of the good, the beautiful, the humane? it doesn't seem to be of much interest to the masses. everything is abuzz with politics, economy, prestige, strategy, success. why not, for a change, think a little about the soul, about conscientiousness, about authenticity? i know that these very words sound fake, because they have been misused over and over again. however, why not reinvent them? in my opinion, that would reaffirm ourselves as human beings, and at the same time have an inevitable, though an incidental effect of improving the overall state of humanity.
***
half an hour after i wrote the above, i came across the following sentence in the book 'narcissism' by alexander lowen: 'when wealth occupies a higher position than wisdom, when notoriety is admired more than dignity, when success is more important than self-respect, the culture itself overvalues 'image' and must be regarded as narcissistic.'