Why Does Misery Love Company?

One Plays, The Other Is Played, And Both Loose !

T.G.I.M. (Thank God Its Monday).
Things are moving right along here at
Your Friendly Neighborhood PimpHop.com and I am satisfied with the progress made in the first month of 2010.

In preparation for next month, in which we begin to fine tune the flow, we are forced to look into matters which may be the cause of achieving less than optimal results, and make adjustments, and again, one of the primary causes may in fact be something that is actually quite simple, yet very much the current status quo, which stems from the combination of company and misery, and their love for each other.

Many of you are already aware of my reasons for writing, yet for those who are just recently joining the conversation, this is really  my own from of therapy, as this publication is a workout resolution station of sorts, where I often choose to leave some words on the table for others who may find them useful.

I would not consider myself as an expert, but rather as a student just like you, yet one area of expertise that I do posses is in the area of this thing called The Internet, and in my opinion, one of its most valuable attributes is in the fact that so much insight from experts is abundantly available, which actually does tend to lead to even more questions, so there is a trade off in everything.

None the less, here is a statement on the subject from a site that I frequent known as
psychologytoday.com

Does misery love company, or does misery make company equally miserable? Psychologists have long pondered whether couples and close friends are depressed in tandem because one person’s mood poisons the well, or because people gravitate toward significant others with the same traits.

You may find some interest in how this applies to me, so I will share. I like most individuals do, to a certain extent, like to feel like I am a part of the group, and have always been more of a social personality, shown through the types of ventures that I involve myself with.

The challenge in this particular instance is when I may have a goal, and outlook which leads to that goal being set and acted upon, that differes from the large majority of the group, which leaves me with an interesting choice.

A. Align with the outlook and emotions of the group
B. Separate from the group and venture independently.

At first glance, the choice is simply based on which is the higher priority for me, yet basic human instinct and perhaps programming tends to sway towards conforming to the group.

Of course, it is not a new challenege, and it weighs upon who’s thoughts and feelings I identify with and trust the most, my own, or that of the group.

The answer is obvious, yet I do find myself  attempting to proselytize, which means, convert others to my way of thinking and feeling, yet at this point, I feel a change needs to be made, as each individual needs to choose what works best for them, or like Madonna says in her Like A Prayer song,

“Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone.”

As a writer, I am familiar with stories that actually reflect this scenario, and one of them is a popular work of literature which shows me that there really is nothing new under the sun, which is as refreshing to know as it is frustrating.

All Around The World, Its The Same Song.

The name of this classic tale is Les Miserables, which is the French way of saying “The Miserable Ones“.

In short, its a story about some people and their sintements in France durring the time prior to the French Revolution, and if you wanted to do something fly and pimpish, you could click the link for the story above, and consider attending the widely popular and historical theater play if and when able.

Anyhow, its actually also a  form of a pre game warm up for the upcoming
Barack Obama, State Of The Union Address.

I can recall prior State Of The Union Addresses, in which the Heads Of State prepare themselevs to dodge the stones wielded by the population for not delivering on certain promises, and for the union being in a poor state in general.

It would be, in my opinion, an interesting experience to be a politician in America, especially at the highest levels, and it indicates peoples inability and reluctance to stomach the facts of life, which is that each individual does have a direct involvement in the conditions of a society in which they reside, which leads them to often choose to play the roll of the victim, shift blame to the villian, and place faith in the hero, who, over time, usually becomes the villian which is replaced with another hero, as the cycle continues.

Blah blah blah, but why does misery love company?
I recently heard a pastor at a church speak on the subject, and state that miserable and lonely people who are bored and lack a sense of duty and purpose tend to gather into groups to give each other comfort  and security.

Its just a popular tendency for people to feel somewhat comforted in misery through the fact that they are not alone in it, or as I like to call the stance, ”

At Least Im Not The Only One’ism”

Again, its all a matter of personal choice in my opinion, and since I tend to think in the form of movie scripts, I would envision people in a prison or hospital finding comfort in the fact that they are also not alone in a less than ideal situation.

The way I see it, the time that it takes to complain about a undesirable situation and seek comfort and sympathy for it, can be better invested in things that may assist in resolving the siuation and creating an ideal one to replace it, as the facts would show that any situation, for better or worse, would have required thoughts, feelings and actions from the individuals and groups experiencing the situations, to exist in the first place.

This is a subject that can be discussed at great length and actually is in many circles of philosophy and religion, so my simplified version is in the form of a question which asks.

Are you are a part of the problem, or a part of the solution ?

The answer is usually revealed thorough the one that any person speaks about the most and tend to share with others most frequently.

In closing, without sounding overly optimistic, I believe that there are still enough good things in existence to circumvent a continuous focus on the not so good things, as both things and subsequent conditions are a result of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of individuals and groups.

If that is still to complicated, how about we just leave it be, by looking at life, and adhering to the fact that whatever it is, can only be what we make it, and

close out with a clip from one of my favorite Hip Hop classics for your viewing pleasure.