A Pointless Poignancy

Is this the life they told you you would live? Did you grow up picturing the person you are now? I didn't. I can feel this life pressing down on me and crushing me from the inside out.

Some of us blame the media. Hollywood and it's fantasies that could never be truly attained have led to higher expectations than reality for so many. Though, that is not the case for all. Especially not for me.

As a realist, I've always found myself tempering my optimism with the harshness of realistic possibilities and outcomes. Still, I never saw this coming.

Entertainment and escapism have replaced real life. Humanity has taken the last several centuries to advance. We've advanced, medicine, travel, communication and every other asset of our life that we can put our hands on, but we've barely advanced society.

No matter what way your politics lean, it should not be difficult to admit that we as a global community have done little to advance our views of each other.

In so many ways, it even seems as though we've gone backwards of late. Or is that just what it looks like as each generation paints itself as the greatest. Though, their reasoning may be different as to why they are greater than the next and the one before.

Many of us who saw the end of the 1900s with our own eyes now see the world through a screen. Those who've come after us, only know it this way. These last few years have really cemented that for some.

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to be close to their fellow humans. Especially, not since it is so easy to vilify them. The news finds us the worst of the worst of humanity and spends days or weeks stretching it out into the most divisive forms of the events until no one knows the truth, only the opinions formed by the so-called journalists.

Each new horror story hogs the headlines and the attention of the masses until the next even worse story takes its place. A vicious cycle of toxicity fills our thoughts and breaks our hearts.

There is too much for any individual to fix it all. Most of us know that. This is why we hide behind our fantasies. We pick a universe that we'd prefer to live in. Often times these days, this fandom replaces our entire personality. Then when stress comes, we go there.

Be it your weekly series, your streaming binge, your favorite video game or even your favorite book (which has probably also been bastardized by the media in one way or another), you flee to it because the news of the world is too much to bear.

I'm as guilty as anyone else. My addiction is video games.

A constant activity to keep my mind off of literally everything else. It becomes difficult to not feel guilty for this. The world around me is falling apart and I'm just sitting here tuned completely out.

This leads to a conversation with myself that goes something like this:

"Isn't there something better you could be doing with your life?"

"Like what?"

"Like trying to help your fellow man?"

"Why?"

"Good point."

This modern life that we live, even though it is riddled with so many obvious injustices, is good enough. I have all the vices I need to keep me content, at least content enough.

As I'm sure it is for you, as well. Especially, when you've already given most of your waking life to the system that monetizes you, your time, and even your emotions.

It is not just our wallets and our bank accounts that the system drains. It is our very selves. The person you were meant to be is often buried under the mechanisms you've created to force yourself to acclimate into this pre-existing condition.

We're supposed to make the best of these few sparing years we have, but who has time for that in between the constant access that the rest of the world has to you.

Each of us is connected through the constant stream of advertising, fearmongering, and whatever other attention stealing idea the powers that be can come up with. It is in these connections that we lose ourselves.

So whether it is our chosen vices or those inflicted upon us. We have no room left for a single thought in the day. That is unless we force ourselves to stop.

The whole world wants to have constant access to you. You may even want constant access to the world, but the addict wants constant access to their addiction. That doesn't mean it's a good thing.

I wish right now that I could impart you with some great wisdom. If only I could provide some life changing cure for the global depression that I fear most of us wallow in.

I can't. All I can do is hope that you find your way to live your best life, your absolute best life. Just know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and make the right choice whenever you can.

Each of us has an inner voice unique to ourselves. Our personalities are truly just the decisions we make and how we interact with this voice. It can't always be right, nor can it always be wrong. It is up to you to deal with your own.

Good Fortune to You.

@TalesFromAMadman