New Theme and Some Thoughts
I played around with styling my blog theme to create something autumnal. I'm always looking forward to the fall season around this time of year, and I like for my site to reflect that.
I used a stock image from Pexels for the header and a free vector from Vecteezy for the background, which I edited in Gimp to match the color I wanted. I really like the combination of fiery orange and more muted rust, and I'm pleased with the design! I like that you can work with Bear Blog's CSS pretty freely to personalize your blog.
I've been thinking a lot lately about solitude and community. I'm a very solitary person and always have been; it's just my nature. I'm happiest when left to my own devices, to read or write or play a game or work a puzzle all by myself. But that doesn't mean I dislike being around people or that I don't think community is important. In fact, I think community helps afford us solitude because the more our needs are met through community, the freer we are to just be content with ourselves.
I wish society was more focused on community and mutual aid. I wish we lived in a world like the utopia of A Psalm for the Wild-Built, where people provide for each other out of a sense of mutual well-being instead of seeking to accumulate individual wealth. I think individualism and exceptionalism have been detrimental to the progression of society.
It's fine for us to want to be on our own sometimes. There's a world of difference between solitude and loneliness, and the world the way it is right now causes the latter instead of cultivating the former. If we focused more on community needs, it would allow people more time for solitude, to take time for themselves when needed, because their basic needs would be met and they would have a sense of fellowship with other humans, even when alone. Socialism does not mean sacrificing privacy or individuality. In fact, it affords you more of that, because it gives everyone the means to truly be themselves instead of always feeling like they're missing something or wanting more.
I don't know. I have thoughts about this that aren't fully developed yet, and I'm just rambling. I just want everyone to live a content, comfortable life, and I don't feel like that desire takes away from my solitary nature in any way. It greatly annoys me when people think they would have to sacrifice their personal freedoms to help other human beings. I'm solitary, but I'm not selfish.