Femur Healing and Civilisation and Present day.
Antropologist Margaret Mead was asked what she considered as a first sign of civilization, instead of talking about fish hooks, clay pots or sanitation, she talked of femur (thigh bone) that is broken and healed, is indication of start of it.
Explanation to it that, in animal kingdon if you break a leg, you die, as you cannot run from danger, get to drink water from river or hunt. So you are literally a dead meat for prowlers. No animal survives long enough for leg bone injury to heal. A broken femur healed is a indication that someone took time to stay with you, carreid the p[erson to safety and tended them to recovery. “ Helping someone through difficulty is where civilization starts”, Said Mead, “ We are at our best when we serve other”.
Taking this to present times, from my recent experience, someone who sticks around you when you are healing can still be considered civil? With medical advancement although Femur fixing still needs a lot of care, but we are better equipped with that. More ackowledging feat would be for someone to stick around a person who is suffering a bit more subtly in other spheres, like mental health. Its still an area which is not openly ackowledged, help sorted for after the ackowledgement and then followed through. A long journey which only the person suffering can go through at a pace which he somehow comes to know. This journey can be done without support, which at times can get lonely and sometimes longer, as external validation and assurance becomes all the more important when you mostly don’t believe in yourself. But with support too the journey is ones own, long or short, but it is lesser treacherous. It is equal suffering for the caregiver, as most times, what is healing is not seen as a physical discomfort and cannot be put to words. The sufferer is mostly not equipped to ask for help or neither can put in words what most of times they go through.
In my journey with it, I couldn’t have made it without three people, whom I immensly thank. They made me feel its worth living, although I had instances when I had given up and in other times they stuck around as a beacon of hope to just rise up and eat to survive. Not that its easy on them to stick aroud. Some people around can be oblivious to it and its lesser suffering than to be involved. Like I dont ackowledge it, so it doesnot exist for me. Can be frustrating for the suferer to have such people around, as it is more frutrating to ignore something which is gnawing you from inside. There were such people also around me, whom I would consider as less harmful in the journey. Most which affected me were those who couldnt appreciate the fact that such conditions can occur to a person and can be so till her death, but they avoided ackowledging it or cutting you off. Anyways such people aren't significant in your life, is the biggest learning of it all.
It is like if I dont feel it myself I can appreciate it, kind of situation. And I hope they don’t need to feel it at all as well.
In this journey I am glad to have found my civilised set.
In the modern times, I feel we are growing to be a society where, we need to be more tolerant to adjusting to anything around you with maganimity. thus a more civilised one at that!
