detachment

what a very strange concept -- detachment.
are there people who strive to detach?
perhaps it's just part of personality, but i don't know why folks would WANT to detach, unless it's from something offensive or painful...but still.

clearly, i struggle with the need to detach.
from caring too much about projects, or situations, or people.

there's much talk about striving for "balance"
i think you either care about something or you don't.
degree becomes a factor, no doubt.
but for me, if one feigns detachment it then becomes disingenuine.

on the commute today, there was a homeless person spouting some profanities.
verbalizing his stream of consciousness. you could see those around him detaching.
IMHO, this is a problem. I wanted to know more: Aren't we all in some way responsible for his mental illness or his unhappiness?

Idealistic or not, I think we live in a time where we need to take some responsibities for others in our community. Again, it's a matter of degree...To what end can we help? To what end must we detach to preserve our own fight and survival?