Lonesome
I’ve written in the past about how I enjoy being alone every now and then to be productive and really get things done. I mentioned how our society has become increasingly individualistic, leading people to feel lonelier and lonelier. Something I didn’t think about was how the entire world of self-improvement is built on the same idea of individualism. In my head, I imagine that there was a time period where people didn’t go home every day thinking about how to optimize their output and maximize their productivity. Perhaps at some point, life was about spending time with their communities and working to keep those communities working and strong, rather than focusing on personal career gain.
Everything these days seems to either be a competition or a way to be sold on something. Every time someone struggles with anxiety or depression or some rough patch, they may hearsome combination of advice to participate in“self-care”or try building“healthyhabits.” Self-care often involves spending money on certain products to comfort them, made to capitalize on people’s pain, like bath bombs or weighted anxiety blankets. Healthy habits are things that can be good for you, but the entire idea of“self-improvement”is built on this idea of being better and competing with those around us. Meditation began as ways for spiritual growth and an eventual escape from the self. These days, meditation is another commodity, a way for people to become more productive and more effective, simply another tool. Everything that we use to feel better just feed back into a system that continues to make us unhappy since it challenges us to continuously change ourselves to compete.
I don’t know what to do with this information or how we as a societycan start undoingthe negative effects. I think it’s important to be aware of the forces at work on us each and every day so that we can try to live in a way that is healthier for each of us. Maybe that begins with a slow change of mindset, as we try harder to live for the people in our lives and for our communities.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Article
“Tell Me It’s Going to be OK” by Miya Tokumitsu - extremely depressing and sobering view of the neoliberalism that underpins nearly everything that we go through and how the world works these days. This article inspired today’s newsletter.
Film
A Simple Favor- this is my favorite movie I’ve seen this year. Great performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, with a lot of super fun dialogue, great soundtrack and perfect pacing.
Playlist
Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe- a powerful pop album by a powerful artist!
Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below).
Love,
Nikhil