I owe you an apology. I read this as a restack and called bullshit on the entire article, saying in my ignorance that it read as if gobbed out by an AI.
Your tone of controlled rage and powerlessness coupled with the use of several uncredited illustrations that look also ai-generated; the entire thing left me utterly cold. I even said it reminded me of the recently published AI essay/metafiction on a theme of grief.
And then I read this again.
Really? Is this truly how you and so many people in the following comments feel. Utter nihilistic despair? Total disconnection from your true open nature? Has this world we share failed you so completely? Have you been so ground down by your life that ‘How to die by living’ is the result?
It is, I agree, a deeply challenging time to be alive. We are utterly beset. We have been living with a background thrum of stress/fear for far longer than we as humans are designed to withstand without buckling under the strain. Yes, all of that. It’s a grievous clusterfuck.
But. The cashier’s eyes. The dandelion defying the concrete. The sky above your head. The birdsong at sundown.. Every morning is a chance to set an intention to find one good thing in the new day. And if you can do that, you can build on it.
There is darkness, but you wouldn’t know it for darkness without the light of your consciousness. The world needs us to be present, to be fully awake and to be open to the possibility of hope.
I hope you find more light, more good moments, more hope.
I actually rewrote the ending to try to make it a bit more optimistic... after I posted it I realized it was just too fucked and spent the rest of the day adding haha
First piece I've read by you, excellent. When are we going to take our despair and anger and throw our bodies into the gears of the machine? We are the machine. We can stop it. Yes, it means risking our lives, but we're all dead anyhow on this path. Organize, strike, boycott. Don't succumb to resigned self-pity.
This made me feel very seen. You have a wonderful way with words. I realized the hollowness of this hyper capitalist system in a truly profound way last year on a shrooms trip. I am currently working on rebuilding my inner child that I can now see I tragically let die. I have filled my feed with zen philosophy and nature content and it somehow led me to this striking meditation on the current state of things. I was a very intuitive child, I used to sit outside in the woods for hours just vibing and it felt perfectly natural. I was a kid who wrote poems about the beauty of nature. Then I grew up, started working for survival and became a miserable shell of myself. Shrooms basically snapped me out of the delusion and helped bring me back to myself, but I still feel like there is so much work left to do unlearning all the bullshit we have been sold. Keep being the dandelion in the cracks with your writing. Its working.
Grateful to be entering the ‘ancient years’ (37 now!) because the ratio of Machine Darkness to Dandelion Light has begun to flip… which is probably why The Machine does all it can to push us elderly folk into obsolescence. We are sand in its gears - praise be.
You have written something incredibly resonant. Thank you. I would add that, in addition to the body, the mind is also often a lie. This lie is the unexamined entry point to usher in a Trojan horse of belief systems, to compartmentalize a human organism's psychological profile, to commodify the parts, and then to sell those parts, as products or ideologies, back to their stewards. Watch leaves fall from trees instead and keep meditating if you can. Immerse yourself in non-human intelligence systems, like dogs or city crows. Also, not to get too hippie-dippie, but keep the heart activated whenever possible. Peace.
My external circumstances are very different, but I identify with the search for reasons to stay alive. I have been negotiating with suicide for many years. There are days I am glad I live and days that I am not. I live, basically, because there is someone I love who needs me to live. That's all I know.
I hope you keep writing. I hope I can read you again.
This is such good writing. A big helping of modern nihilism, but oh so good.
Ahh the modern world. So much hope. Such a. Bright future we have in front of us all.
Loved the tone in this one. Pure awesome.
I owe you an apology. I read this as a restack and called bullshit on the entire article, saying in my ignorance that it read as if gobbed out by an AI.
Your tone of controlled rage and powerlessness coupled with the use of several uncredited illustrations that look also ai-generated; the entire thing left me utterly cold. I even said it reminded me of the recently published AI essay/metafiction on a theme of grief.
And then I read this again.
Really? Is this truly how you and so many people in the following comments feel. Utter nihilistic despair? Total disconnection from your true open nature? Has this world we share failed you so completely? Have you been so ground down by your life that ‘How to die by living’ is the result?
It is, I agree, a deeply challenging time to be alive. We are utterly beset. We have been living with a background thrum of stress/fear for far longer than we as humans are designed to withstand without buckling under the strain. Yes, all of that. It’s a grievous clusterfuck.
But. The cashier’s eyes. The dandelion defying the concrete. The sky above your head. The birdsong at sundown.. Every morning is a chance to set an intention to find one good thing in the new day. And if you can do that, you can build on it.
There is darkness, but you wouldn’t know it for darkness without the light of your consciousness. The world needs us to be present, to be fully awake and to be open to the possibility of hope.
I hope you find more light, more good moments, more hope.
Slainte from across the water in Scotland.
Should read my other pieces On Our Will to Control and On That Which Hold Us Back; they cover similar themes and ideas
well thats cheered me right up 😆
sorry buddy xD
I actually rewrote the ending to try to make it a bit more optimistic... after I posted it I realized it was just too fucked and spent the rest of the day adding haha
its a strong piece dont get me wrong. good work!
Great article, my friend. This is what Substack needs more of.
First piece I've read by you, excellent. When are we going to take our despair and anger and throw our bodies into the gears of the machine? We are the machine. We can stop it. Yes, it means risking our lives, but we're all dead anyhow on this path. Organize, strike, boycott. Don't succumb to resigned self-pity.
woah. mic fucking dropped. that was riveting. thank you.
This was bleak! Thanks for sharing... sort of. Maybe. Bleak!
Thanks Mr Woe xD
This explains everything I feel and cannot articulate…. Thank you.
This made me feel very seen. You have a wonderful way with words. I realized the hollowness of this hyper capitalist system in a truly profound way last year on a shrooms trip. I am currently working on rebuilding my inner child that I can now see I tragically let die. I have filled my feed with zen philosophy and nature content and it somehow led me to this striking meditation on the current state of things. I was a very intuitive child, I used to sit outside in the woods for hours just vibing and it felt perfectly natural. I was a kid who wrote poems about the beauty of nature. Then I grew up, started working for survival and became a miserable shell of myself. Shrooms basically snapped me out of the delusion and helped bring me back to myself, but I still feel like there is so much work left to do unlearning all the bullshit we have been sold. Keep being the dandelion in the cracks with your writing. Its working.
Grateful to be entering the ‘ancient years’ (37 now!) because the ratio of Machine Darkness to Dandelion Light has begun to flip… which is probably why The Machine does all it can to push us elderly folk into obsolescence. We are sand in its gears - praise be.
You have written something incredibly resonant. Thank you. I would add that, in addition to the body, the mind is also often a lie. This lie is the unexamined entry point to usher in a Trojan horse of belief systems, to compartmentalize a human organism's psychological profile, to commodify the parts, and then to sell those parts, as products or ideologies, back to their stewards. Watch leaves fall from trees instead and keep meditating if you can. Immerse yourself in non-human intelligence systems, like dogs or city crows. Also, not to get too hippie-dippie, but keep the heart activated whenever possible. Peace.
Thank you so much Monkey Mind! Your comment gives me true satisfaction unassailable by the world!
This was beautiful. Thankyou
Bravo. Beautifully written.
This is so poignant and heartbreakingly true…left me in tears! Thank you!
Thank you Brandie!
Beautiful writing.
My external circumstances are very different, but I identify with the search for reasons to stay alive. I have been negotiating with suicide for many years. There are days I am glad I live and days that I am not. I live, basically, because there is someone I love who needs me to live. That's all I know.
I hope you keep writing. I hope I can read you again.
Feeling this so much. In solidarity.