Privacy / Privaatheid



“I cherish my privacy, and woe betide anyone who tries to interfere with that.”
Jeff Beck

How private a person are you, or do you lay everything out in the open? I truly hope you are rowing in the same boat as that of Beck! I think, no, I know that he is absolutely right to have that stance because many people fail to cherish that little piece of reality: PRIVACY. In today’s social media crazed world, most of you (and most others) may think that everything about you must be disclosed, but that is a total misconception. You have to respect your (and others’) privacy. I always think of celebrities, bathing in all their money, but I think something they wish to have more of, is some privacy. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), noted that we live in a world starved for solitude, starved for silence, and starved for the private: and therefore also starved for meditation and true friendship. In those days there were not as many tools available as there is today, to subdue our privacy, and here I specifically refer to the social media platforms and other information technological gizmos, as touched on earlier. I wonder what he would have said if he lived today, 55 years on. Now, what exactly does the term privacy imply? Wikipedia says that privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. What is important here, is the seclusion aspect. I feel very strongly about the act of making time to seclude yourself and your information, to make time with and for yourself, and retreat into a space of privacy. I don’t say you must become a recluse, no, I am referring to moments of private, still meditation. One’s privacy is very important. Just like you wear clothes to protect your private parts, so you have to wear a barrier at times to protect your inner personhood. Let us, therefore, make space to become private, to do less oversharing, and not to be afraid to dish out Beck’s threat. 

Don’t allow anyone to coarsely and intrusively invade your privacy,
there are so many platforms in place today that do…
But WOE BETIDE ANYONE WHO
invade my privacy that are so dear to me…

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“Ek koester my privaatheid, en elende vir enigiemand wie wil probeer om daarmee in te meng.”
Jeff Beck

Hoe privaat is jy as mens, of laat jy alles omtrent jouself uit in die ope? Ek hoop van harte jy roei in dieselfde bootjie as die van Beck! Ek dink, nee, ek weet dat Beck absoluut in die kol is aangaande sy houding jeens die eerbiediging van privaatheid, want jy sien, ongelukkig is dit so dat te veel mense gruwelooslik daarin misluk om daardie bietjie PRIVAATHEID in hul lewens te vertroetel. In vandag se wêreld, wat besot is met die sosiale media, mag meeste van julle (en andere) dink dat alles aangaande jou in die ope moet wees, maar dit is ‘n miskonsepsie. Dit is van uiterste belang dat jy jou (en andere se) privaatheid respekteer. Ek dink baie keer aan al die beroemde mense en sterre, wie ‘n oorvloed van geld en weelde het, dan wonder ek hoeveel van hulle dit sal verruil vir ‘n bietjie privaatheid, net om weg te kom uit die openbare sfeer… Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) het opgemerk dat ons in ‘n wêreld woon wat van honger omkom, honger vir afsondering, honger vir stilte, en honger vir privaatheid. Dit is dan ook daarom dat ons honger is vir meditasie en ware vriendskap. In Clive se dae was daar nie so baie toestelle soos daar vandag is om sy privaatheid te demp nie. Ek wonder wat hy sou gesê het as hy vandag, 55 jaar later, geleef het? So, wat beteken die term privaatheid dan nou eintlik? Volgens Wikipedia is privaatheid die vermoë van ‘n individu of groep om in afsondering te gaan, hetsy dit aangaande die self en/of informasie aangaande die self is, en sodoende homself/haarself of ditself sellektief uit te druk. Wat hier van belang is, is die afsonderings aspek. Ek voel baie sterk oor die daad van afsondering (van jouself en informasie aangaande jouself), en nee, ek meen nie daarmee dat jy ‘n kluisenaar moet word nie… Nee, maak net tyd vir jouself en weet wanneer om terug te tree in jou private ruimte. Jou privaatheid is regitg baie belangrik. Net soos wat jy klere dra om jou privaat dele te beskerm, so moet jy ‘n keermuur soms oprig om jou innerlike menswees te bedek en te beskerm. Laat ons daarom meer tyd en ruimte maak vir die private sfeer, en skroom nooit om Beck se dreigement hierbo uit te deel nie. 

Laat jy toe dat iets of iemand jou privaatheid ondermyn,
of is dit al die sosiale platforms en groepsdruk?
Gaan voort, een van die dae het al jou privaatheid verdwyn,
so komaan… jy moet jouself regruk!

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