Manufactured Misery

what am i manufacturing today?

Friends.

In the “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book” sober alcoholics are urged to avoid the “deliberate manufacture of misery.”

Oooh.

That speaks to me. Does it speak to you?

The.

Deliberate.

Manufacture.

Of.

MISERY.

If I could sum up the current state of (much of) social media, the media, politics, etc., this is how I would categorize it - “a deliberate manufacure of misery”.

I mean.

You feel it when you “doomscroll”, don’t you? It’s that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as you scroll and scroll while seconds turn to minutes, to 10 minutes, to 20, 30, 40 until you finally “awaken” from the trance to realize how deep down the rabbit hole you are - scanning articles and posts and comments and a never ending sea of hearts and thumbs up and angry faces and sad faces …

You had moments where your blood boiled.

You had moments when you felt profound sadness.

You had moments when you wanted to throw the phone across the room.

You had moments when you smiled.

You came across politics.

You came across spirituality.

You came across things shared by family.

You came across things shared by complete strangers, put on your screen because of an algorithm.

… In many ways, social media or the algorithm or the nerds who created the software (maybe a mix of all 3, plus more) had a hand in deliberately manufacturing content that would send your nervous system in all sorts of directions so much so that you would lose yourself while staring at the screen and go back to life or work or errands or whatever feeling a little more all over the place than you felt before.

Which.

Mind you.

Is ADDICTING. Isn’t it? It’s the “high” and the “low” and the “up” and the “down” that brings a thrill of sorts, almost like a roller coaster or that new Netflix drama that you’re addicted to … or drugs, alcohol, etc. (perhaps the “AA: The Big Book” is on to something). This is the secret sauce of social media, I think - the highs and the lows that it throws your nervous system into keeps you coming back for more.

And, yeah - there is some good on social media, right? But, let’s be honest - you gotta go searching for it. It’s rare that aside from the random meme that will give you a chuckle or the funny cat reel or the photo of the smiling grandbaby that your best friend recently posted … it’s rare that good, joyful, hopeful, peaceful, unifying content will (consistently) cross your screen. That stuff? You gotta go digging for it again and again and again until the algorithm rewires itself to bring less Trump to your feed and more goodness.

So, again: manufactured misery, that’s how I’d describe much of what we come across on social media, the media, the news, etc. these days.

And that leads me to ask myself - what sort of content or feelings or nervous system vibrations am I manufacuring today?

Hm.

And not just on social media, mind you … but in life?

In my body?

In my home?

In my family?

In my job?

In my community?

When I pass a random person at the grocery store?

When I get cut off by an aggressive driver?

When I drive by the house of the the guy I CANNOT STAND.

What do my words, my responses, my facial expressions, my Facebook posts, my comments - what am I manufacturing today? What sort of energy am I sending out into the world? Am I radiating light, positivity, love … or am I radiating much of the same old same old that we can find 30 seconds into scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, etc.”

Yes, friends - what will we manufacure today?

Much love,

• Glenn || PATREON / ART STUDIO