the ultimate act of rebellion
The rebellion is over, and there wasn’t even a whimper. Today, instead of resisting or fearing Big Brother, we embrace and even pursue it, giddily pouring every bit of us into its opaque, multinational maw — monetizing our existence (not for us, of course) in exchange for “free” services. And why wouldn’t we! The Man’s “plan” isn’t really evil, or for that matter, good. Its plan is simple, irreducible, and pure: All it wants, when everything is said and done, is growth, and nothing more.
What could be simpler? Who doesn’t want things to grow? To succeed, to flourish? It’s what America dreams of. Of course, this raison d’être works best if you ignore the absence of any qualifiers. Just growth…period. Whatever that means, and whatever it takes. As Prime Directives go, it’s a marvel of efficiency; there is no other point to any of it! Free from parameter or purpose, no concern for the inevitable collateral damage left in its wake. Engulf & Devour Industries, Inc.
It’s a relatively new business model, leveraging relatively new technologies to unprecedented levels of profit and ubiquity. To call it “successful” is to laughably downplay it; virtually everything we encounter in a normal day has been market-researched, fine-tuned, and supercharged — today, by increasingly sophisticated AI, generating algorithms, whose “masters” understand less and less. And all with one goal: to hook us in, suck information out, and deliver more of what keeps us there. If anger seems to work (it does), so be it; anger is the goal. Outrage, fear, suspicion, doubt — these are the fuels that keep the flame of our attention stoked. And resistance, in case you haven’t noticed, is futile. Sadly, a warning we are never given.
So in this brave new world, what constitutes rebellion? Anarchy? Isolating yourself? Living “off the grid”? A grid that, aside being effectively inescapable, is also a legitimate source of information and connection? Maybe we should just ignore it and go about our business. I mean,
“I’m immune. I know better.”
Of course you know better. Most of us do. But none of us are not equipped to counter a truly uncaring apparatus whose sole aim is to get our attention and hold it, even shape it, and make us feel good—validated, energized, reassured—while doing so. Coming at us, 24/7, are ever-improving techniques and technologies developed using literally billions of dollars’ worth of R&D. To put it mildly, we are outgunned.
The truth is, most of us are wide open to manipulation like this for one simple reason: We don’t know who we are.
Answering the question, “Who am I?” can seem simple, until you try. In fact, the closer you look, the more slippery and ephemeral a clear answer becomes. Are you a bundle of thoughts and feelings? Your reactions to them? Their author? Really?
This confusion is understandable. In fact, it’s the cornerstone upon which most marketing strategies appear to be built. Knock you down a peg, then offer you something to feel better about it. Growing old is bad, but we’ll keep you looking young! Being unattractive is bad, but we’ll help you look better! By the way, it would appear that a blinding, deafening stream of manipulative nonsense, blasted at us from every media outlet 24/7, might be successful at destabilizing people. Sufficiently destabilized, we seek comfort…and so it continues.
So, what do to? Well, “follow your heart” seems to be a start—don’t listen to the others, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your bliss…? Great! But in order to follow this beat, or bliss, you must first be able to even hear it. Feel it, and trust it; recognize it as yours, and not something planted there from without, for someone else’s purposes. So while our hearts might be as close as we get to having a “center,” our sense of it has almost certainly been scrambled and toyed with—literally from birth.
We’re going to need to do some sorting out, then. Luckily, we all have the perfect tool for gaining access and entry to our hearts.
These two aspects of us are usually regarded as an either/or proposition, a “heart vs mind” situation. And in this construct, we all know who emerges the victor, don’t we? I mean, the heart knows, while the mind, well, the mind “merely” thinks. In fact, our minds often think us to death, with stress, doubt, anxiety, second-guessing, etc. Our hearts are pure, while our minds are just…mental.
But what if the mind is not the enemy; what if instead, the mind served as a powerful gateway, or gate-keeper, to the heart. I mean, how often do people follow their heart right off a fucking cliff? “Think what you’re doing!” we might yell at such people, cringing as they follow their “bliss” into a burning building covered in red flags. And rightfully so; despite often becoming an overwhelming, toxic barricade to joy, the mind can also work the other way, providing balance and measure, the science behind the art, so to speak. Recognizing our mind as a tool rather than “who we are” is a start. So if the mind is your gateway freedom, how do we begin putting it to better use?
“If you want to better know your mind, sit quietly and observe it.”
…said someone, somewhere, at some point. And they were absolutely right. Not nearly as simple as it sounds, of course. Like losing weight, or learning to play an instrument, or accomplishing literally anything, it’s never a matter of knowing the right trick or quick shortcut—the simple truth is, we all know exactly how to accomplish most things; if not, we can quickly find out. So it’s not knowing how, then, but applying our energy to doing the work. And “the work” here is actually just stopping and paying attention—close, non-judging, focused attention—to what is going on in our heads. Call it mindfulness, or contemplation, or simply focused attention, it’s a very powerful way to get a grip, really and truly, on wtf your mind is doing.
Focusing on something very basic and very simple—your own breath is perfect: it’s always there, and is both “automatic” and within our control (to some extent)—frees up bandwidth to notice what is happening. And what you will notice is that your mind is firing off an endless FIREHOSE OF NONSENSE. We’re just so used to it, so familiar with it, that we don’t, or barely, notice it at all. No wonder we are so easily distracted, sucked in, manipulated.
Try it. If you are not already a meditator, try sitting for one minute (set a timer) and focus solely on your breath. Being guided can be very helpful at first. Done correctly, meditation isn’t thinking with your eyes closed, or blissing out, or “not thinking” (good luck with that; our minds need something to pay attention to, and trying to just “not” is effectively impossible. It is simply paying very, very close attention to something, without reacting. Again, it’s not easy. It takes practice. Making a habit of it will yield an otherwise hard-to-attain depth of perception into your own mind. Learning to separate yourself from your mind and watch it “go off” is strengthening a critical muscle.
Side note: If you are left thinking, “Nailed it! Nothing to it; what’s the big deal?” I promise you, you did not. Stay with it; not noticing something does not mean it’s not there, and it certainly doesn’t mean it is not doing any harm.
This is a critical first step to real freedom. Having a clear sense of what constitutes “you” might be an ongoing journey, but it’s the most important, modern-day survival skill one can develop. In a world where hacking your attention—your wants, needs, feelings, thoughts, desires—in ever-more cunning, subtle, and successful ways, the ability to witness your own inner workings and not mistake these for “you” is indeed a superpower. Cultivating and strengthening a non-reactive, non-judging, curious attitude to what our minds are doing is to gain freedom from its grasp…and the grasp of whomever it is that is fighting for (and winning) it.
Remember, that’s all the beast wants: our attention. And more often than not, it will get it. Fighting this directly, trying to somehow withhold ourselves, is at best short-lived and hopeless. And no need for anger; the beast is not evil, it’s just surviving. Thriving, in fact, but often at our expense. Fortunately, though, you don’t have to be a part of the game…you can learn to truly notice it, remain intact, and move on. ❤
