What I take from this is that there is status and money to be gained from human discomfort, or even better, human suffering. That there is always someone with a new morning routine, course, or product. Their intentions may be genuine, they “help people”, but the course, podcast, or product only feels like a solution, while the underlying itch is insatiable.
No, you didn’t miss it. You did it. You were in it. You participated valiantly and played your part—you are the audience. That was the game here: not our healing, but our desire to be healed. That’s what makes the audience.
We are the ears needed for this to “resonate.” We participate in anxious hope that this will relieve discomfort, maybe to find a helpful tip, but inevitably not to resolve our whole discomfort. It’s performative. It’s important that we feel these things might be helpful. It’s their business to help. We are the audience, wallowing in our own discomfort, seeking release from another source who is incentivised to promise it works.
We’re just a part of the system here, one that is seeking hope. It’s not our fault that we buy into hope; it’s that or despair. I don’t think we missed it. We participate. That’s the product here, not our relief, but our participation, which gives credibility to those who might relieve us.
I like that framing - it reminds me of an email I received from one of my meditation teachers once:
"The patterns of thought and emotion then naturally become less dominant and our lives can begin to soften. We can be more self-forgiving and less judgemental. Let the intensity of your suffering be the key. It is that which propels you into the search for something else – something deeper than hacks (if that is the right word) for self-improvement and positivity. Use your own particular suffering as the fuel for your search. That will help to keep up your practice. Make this practice part of your life"
Thought-provoking, Dario.
What I take from this is that there is status and money to be gained from human discomfort, or even better, human suffering. That there is always someone with a new morning routine, course, or product. Their intentions may be genuine, they “help people”, but the course, podcast, or product only feels like a solution, while the underlying itch is insatiable.
No, you didn’t miss it. You did it. You were in it. You participated valiantly and played your part—you are the audience. That was the game here: not our healing, but our desire to be healed. That’s what makes the audience.
We are the ears needed for this to “resonate.” We participate in anxious hope that this will relieve discomfort, maybe to find a helpful tip, but inevitably not to resolve our whole discomfort. It’s performative. It’s important that we feel these things might be helpful. It’s their business to help. We are the audience, wallowing in our own discomfort, seeking release from another source who is incentivised to promise it works.
We’re just a part of the system here, one that is seeking hope. It’s not our fault that we buy into hope; it’s that or despair. I don’t think we missed it. We participate. That’s the product here, not our relief, but our participation, which gives credibility to those who might relieve us.
Hopefully, some of it is helpful.
Thanks Warwick.
I like that framing - it reminds me of an email I received from one of my meditation teachers once:
"The patterns of thought and emotion then naturally become less dominant and our lives can begin to soften. We can be more self-forgiving and less judgemental. Let the intensity of your suffering be the key. It is that which propels you into the search for something else – something deeper than hacks (if that is the right word) for self-improvement and positivity. Use your own particular suffering as the fuel for your search. That will help to keep up your practice. Make this practice part of your life"