Luxuria - The Lust of The Flesh, the Lust of The Eye

Well, I feel
Like I have to feel
Something good all of the time
With most of life I cannot deal
But a good feeling I can feel
Even though it may not be real
And if a person, place or thing can deliver
I will quiver with delight
But will it last me for all my life
Or just one more lonely night

Lust.

The vapid desire to be constantly stimulated, to be pleasured, to be entertained, to have something to fill our eyes, ears and minds so that we do not have to come face to face with the reality around us. In order that we not spend time contemplating our lives and confronting our own shortcomings and limitations, we create an artificial bubble through social convention and "quick-fix" laws. We think we are circumventing that most distasteful of all conditions, "Hard Work" and pat ourselves on the back at our own genius. We think we have bootstrapped ourselves to a higher plane of existence through confabulation, developing a freer, more open society and wonder why we are being sucked into the abyss faster than we can legislate, condemn and ignore our way out of it.

We self medicate our way to pseudo-euphoria through alcohol, drugs, self-delusion and all manner of perversion and wonder why one day we wake up and find ourselves not worthy of even a placemark in the lives of others, having done nothing to build them up and indeed often degrading the quality of their lives by the waste of ours.

Conversely, why do we seem to at the same time, wallow in self-pity; that most cancerous of emotions? We seem to have no balance. We are unwilling to accept the fact that life does not come forth without great agony, sustenance cannot exist apart from back-breaking work and peace is not the absence of war.

Why are we deluded into thinking we must always "Feel good"? Can we not shut off "American Idol" (Whose title alone should give us great pause), and "Dancing With The Stars" long enough to listen to the voice of reason over the cacophony of madness? Can we not shut off "Wife Swap" (Are we seeing a pattern here?) and "SuperNanny" long enough to peer into our own hearts and rectify what is wrong there before we gloat over how much better than others we are?

"For the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?"