I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I heard a story about a bear who went over the mountain to see what he could see. Do you know what he could see: the other side of the mountain. Go figure. I bring this to your attention because it illustrates a problem a certain friend of mine is experiencing. He’s in that classic find-your-place-in-this-world quagmire which often hits us all in our early twenties.

For all those people struggling to get to the top, let me save you some trouble: there’s not much up there but air and other disappointed people. There’s a cavity eating away at the soul’s enamel, possibly a product of post-modernism, possibly because of alien microwaves, definitely because you touch yourself at night, but the point is, it’s there: a void. Where did it come from? How did I get this void? We may have been born with it, I’m not sure, but almost everyone knows what it is. It’s that aching feeling; that classic, something’s-not-rightness within us that we always try to right.

Now there are all kinds of classic ways to fill the void, but I’m talking now about the pitfalls of success. Not that I speak from experience, but I think a successful career, fame, money or combinations thereof are not all they’re cracked up to be, and the illusion is out there that once a modicum of success is attained, it will fill that void.

Now I don’t want to be that annoying armchair psychologist everyone knows, but I feel confident enough to say that I don’t think wide scale depression and unhappiness is around because people aren’t successful enough. After all, this is the apex of capitalist society. Sure, I think financial security helps; I think doing what you love for a living is nothing but good. But when being successful is your be-all, it will end up disappointing you.

Case in point: celebrities. This is the most pathetic demographic in history: a sad collection of naval-gazing, self-important prima donnas. Okay, by many standards, celebrities (be they thespian, musician, politician, something else with an “ian” suffix) have attained success. They’re the top of their field: actors making millions; musicians playing to gigantic, adoring audiences; businesspeople driving their Bentleys to make another deposit, and so on. It’s almost a cliché how unhappy these people often are, despite their bleached-white smiles, and I think they’re unhappy because they’ve climbed the mountain, seen the top and despaired.

I’m not claiming this is the void itself, but we’re always climbing for something; always reaching for the next rung on the ladder in the hopes that, once attained, things will finally be easier. Things will start to get better if I only… The problem is, once we run out of if I only-s we’ve run out of symptoms for our unhappiness. Besides a true spirit of philanthropy, I believe that these people at the top turn to charities and the business of humanity because it represents an insurmountable challenge: a summit that will never be attained. That, and the tax benefits.

Actually, I think it’s highly beneficial to one’s soul to contribute to humanity in this way. Without being so bold as to claim the secret of life, I theorize that the way to get rid of that gaping void inside is counter-intuitive: to give of ourselves. Only by experiencing true charity, giving to humankind and righting life’s wrongs can one get respite from the ache and toil of your inner-void. Or so I think.

I should point out that I think it’s very important to do what you’re good at; to propagate your art or skill, because it’s very cathartic. It’s natural that we do what we were made to do, so let’s do it.

Side note: does anyone else notice I over punctuate my writing? Bothers the crap out of me.