14 DAY TRIAL // Any given day, any given means of public transportation, any given person. Having a curious mind and a scrutinizing view, I observe everything around me. My favorite thing in these kinds of situations is observing people and listening to their conversations. I tried taking a book to read while going somewhere, but I always get distracted by the things around me. I know? it is not appropriate to eavesdrop, but it satisfies my curiosity and also shortens the trip, making it a very pleasant one.
Well, in my daily homing in on people's conversations, there is always a recurrent theme: gossiping. These are the people I hear about everyday: made out of gossip, of fake images we are so desperately eager to share with others. I unknowingly construct an image from these exacerbated images of others as others, not knowing me, form an image based on the things they hear.
This is me, a puzzle put together by pieces of fake or hidden information: a rigid, impersonal, cold, two-faced racist, smart ass, hypocrite, each piece added by some people who pass through my life.
So? why do we like to gossip? Do we like this deformed version of the truth? Is it meanness or simply boredom? A certain thing is that we feel good when doing it, that sometimes being bad feels great or that on some occasions we enjoy another person's misery.
You like revealing information to others and you like having things revealed in front of you, 37.300.000 results on Google say so... You are restless, your mind is thirsty, you want to relieve the tension, you want to forget about your problems and stress on others', you laugh your cares away, if only for a brief period.
You condemn others while gossiping and, deep inside you, there is a small wish of imitating them. As psychologists say, we have been educated that letting others know you do not like, you envy them, you feel inferior is not polite. You express your free opinion, you enjoy your democratic benefits. You spread rumors, chit-chat, babble, blather while staying aware that over-inflating the news might have serious consequences.
You make subtle remarks, you tell others about it, but rarely tell it candidly. You seek refuge in your friends, your life is too boring to be the center of a conversation anyway so you share the newly found information and the listeners nod attentively asking for more and more.
You gossip in order to fit in rapidly into a group. As a newcomer, you must have some delicious information to share with others because you fear the unknown and talking about others helps you enter the group faster. You get more easily accepted when you satisfy their curiosity.
Our everyday life is so meaningless in comparison to a star's daily activities. At least, this is what magazines let you to believe. You are fascinated with that world of luxury, wealth, of high life, otherwise inaccessible if it were not for the magazines. Celebrities' lives seem so careless, rich and perfect so you desire to be more like them, to be loved by people you do not even know, to afford all the things you want, to have an interesting day every day. But you know those famous people do not even know you, yet you engage in this bitter-sweet fantasy.
Sometimes, you like illusion. Life is already hard, so why not indulge in a little dreaming? It will not harm anyone if you are careful and stay within some lines. It will only make your day more interesting, you will leave behind all the problems in your home, job or life for a bit of day dreaming.
You have read the article. You probably deny half of it even if you know, deep down, that most of it is true. Most of the times you love gossiping, but, officially speaking, you condemn this parasite of the modern society. I do the same. Nonetheless, it is a part of you and you can not hide it. You can suppress it for some time but it will never disappear. You just settle with the thought that your boring day will pass more quickly, that you will be a more interesting person.