We are sick with anxiety

We are plagued with anxiety because we don't know what is expected of us. We are all essentially born into the same paradigm. You're born, raised at home, taught things, go to school, study, pursue a career, seek a partner, get married, start a family, leave a legacy, and if you're very fortunate, buy a house before you die. That's the cycle, the rat race we're all supposed to live. But there's a significant problem here. It's increasingly difficult to meet the predetermined life expectations. It's becoming less feasible, harder to find a stable partner, own a home, or aspire to have assets and establish the nuclear family life that was promised at birth. So what do you do now? One of my favorite authors, Lacan, defines anxiety as not knowing what is expected of us.

It's the feeling of desire, the social demand to do something, to become someone, to create a destiny, to have a family, without knowing precisely how to respond to that demand. That demand feels like a burden, like a constant weight, a harassment for which you don't know how to provide an answer, how to give it meaning, or even because you see it as impossible in the real world.

This is our situation, our pain, and the social anxiety we experience so intensely today. The problem is that despite this anxiety, we're all still caught up in the same rat race. We don't stop, we don't slow down, we keep working, accumulating debt, turning to dating sites like Tinder and Bumble, hoping to find that partner, that relationship, and start that family, all in line with what our parents expected of us. Yet, we know that the chances of actually achieving those expectations are virtually zero. The exacerbating factor of this problem is the kind of leaders we have today—false leaders lacking vision, who demand from us the same behaviors expected of our parents 50 years ago, even though they're no longer viable. However, these leaders continue to insist that this fantasy is possible, that we should be more entrepreneurial, take risks, and go into debt to buy a house, or that finding love is easy and having a stable partner is something simple that everyone can achieve.

These leaders tell you that you need to find yourself, but in reality, they usually want to sell you a book, a course, a seminar, or a retreat.

And supposedly, after some pseudo-scientific process of magical enlightenment, you'll find the answers and finally silence that painful anxiety. There aren't many easy conclusions here, but I'll give you a recommendation for resistance. Sometimes, doing nothing is an action. In this historical moment we're living in, we're constantly urged to act, to do, to rush, to produce. But perhaps taking a step back, contemplating, questioning those leaders, challenging the grand narratives that have been sold to us as true, dominant, and natural, is what you need to strip certainty away from your knowledge. To remove the certainty that this predefined lifestyle is the one you're destined and obliged to fulfill. When you question the impossible promise you're being asked to fulfill, you'll also find a bit more calm, more space, and the anxiety will no longer feel as burdensome. Because now you'll understand that there isn't actually a script you have to follow.

There's no single functional model for relationships. There's no single dignified or fulfilling lifestyle achieved through consumption, opulence, or material possessions. Instead, what enriches human existence in this world is the diversity of our contributions, through art, poetry, love, a sense of collectivity, and the construction of a shared future.