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Nijwam Swargiary - Unsplash

Dwelling on the Artifice

Audio Version (music by Sergii Pavkin)

How much do we fear being our true selves? Quite a bit, it would seem. Fiction, fantasy, thrillers, violence, and a variety of other superficial constructs are all top sellers. We’ve been led to believe that life is about struggle, distrust, unrequited love, adultery, conquest, frustration, epidemics, liposuction, expensive education, empires, corrupt politics, protecting borders, guns, drugs, war, artificial intelligence, and climate change.

The lines have been drawn, and we are afraid to color outside of them; we are disengaged and disoriented, unsure what to believe, and our faith in ourselves has weakened. Or worse, we’ve been psychologically and emotionally subsumed into the trending hive mindset, abandoning our intelligence, will, and personal mission in favor of the captured consensus.

It is time to pull our collective heads out of our asses. Violence, unrelenting consumerism, vicious guilt and shame, woke cancel culture, and spiritual disconnection are not attractive, sustainable, or healthy. We must remember the greater story and higher purpose of our existence in this time and place, rather than simply obeying the ticking seconds, minutes, hours, and days…

Recognize your puppet strings and take back control. It’s more than just a metaphor; you were created to be awesome. You are divine! Would-be puppetmasters are psychopaths who profit from your disillusionment, laughing all the way to the bank. Power in today’s world is fundamentally corrupted, based on egoistic malice, narrative spin, and widespread psychological manipulation. It manufactures value in both physical and virtual objects, while deceiving minds with pleasantries and wordplay.

Nothing has inherent meaning. Nothing. When we want to label or valuate something, we must ask ourselves, “Whose idea is this?” Because you can bet that unless you’re at least moderately awake and aware, your knee-jerk price tag will benefit someone else entirely.

Love is the source, not Pepsi, Red Bull, or Coca-Cola. You will see through the multimillion-dollar campaigns if you want to, mildly amused by their dysfunctional madness. The meaning is in you, not in them or out there.

It is within you to reignite the flame. Then, witness the passionate fire! It’s good for what fails you. It’s good for opening and widening your eyes. It’s good for regaining innocence, presence, resilience, and soulful resonance. It’s great for disrupting apathy and scaring the shit out of yourself.

Your truth is profound, invigorating, and light. You will feel it when you reconnect with real substance. Your true self is beyond fear; it embraces it.

Dive in.

Love your life.

“Substance” from the Fleshwound album.