Anxiety is the most common disorder in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults every year. And while it’s dangerous and irresponsible to make sweeping generalizations about the cause of this anxiety, it would also be disingenuous to pretend that economic insecurity isn’t one of its primary drivers.
"This could not be less American. Americans are lonely and stressed and constantly striving." Sheesh...nailed it, didja?? American life is like an old Nike ad- "There is no finish line." We always want more, better, different, bigger, faster...anything but what we have. Things become obsolete merely by virtue of possessing them. It's consumer culture on steroids. I'm that way with iPhones and laptops and to a lesser degree with guitars. No matter how much I try to fight the programming, it sometimes feels as if it's hardwired, something that's so firmly enmeshed into my DNA that there's no disentangling from it.
Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk, I look around and wonder how all this stuff got here. Somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted it, I guess. Perhaps I thought it would make me happy. Or fill a hole. Or...who knows???
I love what you wrote. And you get how IMPORTANT it is that you have those "Naked Lunch" moments (William S. Burroughs' type of Naked Lunch) where you see the forkful of toxicity that's being held in front of your face. Those moments are everything, change everything. Without them, we are already dead.
"This could not be less American. Americans are lonely and stressed and constantly striving." Sheesh...nailed it, didja?? American life is like an old Nike ad- "There is no finish line." We always want more, better, different, bigger, faster...anything but what we have. Things become obsolete merely by virtue of possessing them. It's consumer culture on steroids. I'm that way with iPhones and laptops and to a lesser degree with guitars. No matter how much I try to fight the programming, it sometimes feels as if it's hardwired, something that's so firmly enmeshed into my DNA that there's no disentangling from it.
Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk, I look around and wonder how all this stuff got here. Somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted it, I guess. Perhaps I thought it would make me happy. Or fill a hole. Or...who knows???
I love what you wrote. And you get how IMPORTANT it is that you have those "Naked Lunch" moments (William S. Burroughs' type of Naked Lunch) where you see the forkful of toxicity that's being held in front of your face. Those moments are everything, change everything. Without them, we are already dead.
Ah, I can already feel the sequel coming on: “Today’s Dispatch From The Great Beyond”….