I'm new here, so just wanted to say hi!.

[amazinglyso]

I don't see any posts here, yet perhaps they have tucked under some hidden depths of categories you have the option to comment?. On the subject of the term 'happiness; the intimate nature and workings of what constitutes it - Jack Cousteau always comes to mind - delving into the hearts and depths of ocean wonders, alongside intelligent giants such as humpbacks and grays. Jack was an infamous marine pioneer with an extended appreciation for all walks of life, viewers of his past documentaries will recall just how enigmatic a person he truly was; embracing of the brave new and old natural world, and the native peoples of marooned islands. I now have the Cousteau dynasty collection and every time I watch it, feel compelled to push continents together and narrow the boundaries of our western culture, just as Mandela had fought against apartheid 50's-80's Southern Africa.

It is easy to feel adrift and aloof - not only just from the wider territories of other continents - unless extremely fortunate to travel extensively: yet from the immediate communities in which we are tied. There are social divisions within our own communities; inequalities that have survived since the advent of man itself - why modern Britain in my opinion, certainly not a civilized or developed nation on the whole. I agree entirely with the wizened actor and DJ Harry Lamb who recently claimed that we live in a society of 'I'm alright Jack' - referring specifically to the growing numbers of well off in the UK who become narcissistic in their 'have it all' mindset - whether consciously or otherwise. I myself live just outside of a very wealthy colony in Surrey, have been a cleaner in the very mansion-sized properties that these well off occupy. Of course, a narcissist might say I have earned this! - not if you have been pushing a posh mouse around a computer to get that, or simply inherited it. This is where the social divide is apparent to me and those who live in my village, the vast majority are either on social security benefits for various reasons, and/or pensioners who will walk to the supermarket and not drive a car to get there.

I wish not to be enlightened at the age of just 40, most people think I am 26 because of my Siberian and Swedish mix of genes - they assume I am in work and earning well because I have good manners and a very good grasp of real English. In fact, I suffer with mental health conditions and living on disability benefits that make me feel rotten - as if undeserving in some way - especially given the fact that I have put myself through formal education without any help or support from family. I was abused as a child, cut all contact with family and attended a special needs education. Few people if anyone would guess this to talk to me!. The problem is that I am driven as well as wanting to achieve so many things - establish myself as a writer for instance, yet concerned that if I pursue this avenue, will be deemed fit for work and return to unskilled employment as I had done many times in the past. Yes, I have paid taxes as well as being a pioneer in my own right, yet there is a social stigma about having mental health issues and uneducated people assumptive of how I thus function as if a computer generated malfunction!

I am isolated; cut off from the main fabric of society at large because of the above, and also because of the lifestyles of those earning a basic wage - working unnecessarily harder than the well-off for a pittance pay. The wealthy do not make it their business to integrate and socialize with anyone who can't afford their heating bills - they are the hideous surplus who thrive on the state. Therefore, social inclusion is a thing of acceptance and belonging to something - the rich and the rich - the poor and the disadvantaged. Rarely if ever have I encountered a wealthy set of people wanting to contribute to those in their own countries - just those on the extreme end of foreign poverty. How then does a supposedly civilized society become so?.