The content-package paradox

There is no one that can deny that the world we live in today has seen significant changes in all spheres of individual and public life. Frequently quoted keywords like ‘globalization’, ‘global village’, ‘internet revolution’ and ‘email’ all describe some aspects of how the world has changed. All youth and young adults have had the opportunity to see their world and skills change rapidly from their childhood to youth and have had to adapt to the dramatic shifts and continuous upheaval.
One of these key areas of upheaval and attempts to cope with the changing realities is in the social arena, especially in the area of intimate personal relationships. The changed perspectives on femininity, masculinity, homosexuality, marriage, and the nature of a relationship, chat sites, clubs, demanding careers, family issues and more have made the waters of the pursuit of happiness at the personal level more difficult to navigate for the average young adult.
In the quest to find some measure of happiness or ‘perceived’ happiness many young adults who have any level of consciousness when it comes to love and life seem to be increasingly facing the modern version of the ‘content-package’ paradox. We can not be so naïve as to believe that this is a modern phenomenon, just as love, companionship or marriage is not. In an era when profound personal connection, dedicated time to courting and exploration and an increasing erosion of traditional values in favour of materialism and commercial superficiality exists, it is no doubt that the pressures of the content-package paradox are more severe today.
How does the average young man or woman evaluate or select potential mates and partners? In my opinion, anyone who has been in a relationship will tell that a choice or preference was made between the package (physical/financial/social qualities) and contents (educational/intellectual/emotional qualities) of a potential mate. As in all things most people are not equally endowed or balanced with equal measures of both and so it is up to each individual to decide which is more important for him/her and that will influence how he/she proceeds in the game of evaluation and love-connections. The question we have to ask ourselves is, which is really more important to us and given the contexts we exist in and our personal value systems which is more valued and why? How do we move beyond superficiality and shallowness and strike a balance that will ensure that our love and hope is offered to the right partners and that the happiness that we all seek will come our way and not remain elusive and part of our childhood dreams.