EXTENSION OF XFFNY

[stagnation, conformity in capitalism, awareness]

Currently stuck in Chicago due to flight cancellations stemming from the government shutdown. It’s interesting to see how our country reacts to this already 40 day long shutdown. My co-worker made a very nice analogy comparing it to the coronavirus pandemic, where no one really took things seriously until everything just blew up in our faces all at once. Had a feeling something similar would happen and tried to deny it out of existence – did not work. At least it led to giving me the time and flexibility to work on this piece. There’s a plus side to everything, just got to find or make it sometimes 🙂

mini chicago review: amazing architecture, crazy bipolar weather, amazing food [7/10]

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Our society systemizes our lives through the brainwashing they call “culture” and idealisms rooted in the crevice of our every thought and action. With such instinctive groupthink habits, the general public effortlessly falls for the same notion of how they want to live. But the reality has become that a majority of us are going about our lives in a half-conscious state, following the common perception of what success is defined by through superficial and shallow materialistic desires. One of the biggest human defects is our shortsightedness. We are unable to see what we could be outside of what society and culture entails as right.

I want to state that this comes from a very privileged standpoint from someone in their 20s with little responsibility outside of my personal wellbeing. When monetary abilities define ones’ capability to survive in the capitalistic world, it is nearly impossible to worry about what one considers living a “fulfilling life” when the main concern is guaranteeing if they can afford rent for the next month or put food on the table.

More often than not, those one surrounds themselves with is also a reflection of them. Living in one of the most fast-paced and bustling cities in the world, everyone on the streets appears to always be hustling about. Especially on the subways during peak hours, it is filled with copy paste corporate zombies droning onto a day that will blend into the same abyss, pouring their lives into enterprises that only worsen the country’s economic inequality.

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COMFORT

In a medical sense, the three forms of comfort are relief, ease, and transcendence. It is when in sickness that all one wishes for is for the tribulations to dissipate. My mom always preaches that only when illness and pain appears, that the only desire is for that discomfort to disappear. Just like when we have a slight headache, some tooth pain or sensitivity, or even a paper cut, where such small indents in the norm of our life creates dissonance in our daily routines. Now when I say comfort, it is referring to a combination of mediocrity, stability, and a relatively content quality of life. The way we react to discomfort in our physical bodies reflects how we react towards discomfort and abnormalities in life as well.

Once we humans get into a comfortable pattern, it feels too toilsome to get out. The idea alone can be so intimidating that many will choose to not even entertain the idea, staying into the same repository they are familiar with unless forcibly pushed out. This applies too heavily to the corporate ladder everyone seems to yearn towards, yet if you ask them of their purpose and intention, financial freedom and materialistic thirst seem to be their only desire. People become content with being a part of a system that not only lacks efficiency due to the pride stemming from hierarchical positioning, thus the silent death of comfort.

Yes, to an extent, it is good to make work your life given how much time and effort you put into it, but what is important is the intentions behind that. For some, work is done as an obligation to gain financial flexibility. For others, they may truly enjoy and love what they do and resonate with the goals of their position. It is so easy to be stuck in a pattern of comfortability, where you stay doing something even if you don’t really want to or have desires to do others. The risk and instability lead to too much discomfort. 

This pertains not only to the same corporate funnel everyone begs to enter as money is god and success is defined using the same variables. They think that owning is good. More money, more property, more commercialism… more of everything is better. Our world repeats this to us over and over from the second we are born to the point where no one even bothers to think otherwise. An average person has their perspective predefined for them so harshly that they are fogged to the point of having no perspective of what they actually value as important. They don’t truly think about what they want for themselves outside of the equation that they have been inserted into, merely live in a state of subconscious and having the realization hit when too much time has already passed.

MEDIOCRITY

I originally wanted to write about just the silent death of mediocrity, but as I came up with this piece, it became clear that such was only a portion of the underlying fear of facing discomfort.

In the corporate world, climbing the ladder and appeasing higher ups to try and gain a spot next to them puts them in a position where they undermine their own achievements. While being in it, it is so frustrating to see the lack of streamlining and ability to straightforwardly communicate with those in different positions because of how much hierarchical significance there is. Yes, it logically makes sense to respect and listen to those who have much more experience and more refined skillsets, but when it inhibits one’s ability to grow to their full capacity, why do you stay? I guess for many, you can be content with living a stable, calm life. But for someone who is earnest to learn more and actually be in a position where they are excelling, staying in a position where I haven’t learned and know the opportunity for growth is lacking, I refuse to stay for the sake of stability. 

Watching the groupthink mentality form and see how everyone around you is content with what could be much more for them almost feels like watching everyone be brainwashed. Humans are the result of evolution that gifted us superbrains. Even now, with the expansion of knowledge and technological advancements, it may not be physically apparent, but each generation of our society is evolving as well. As that is such a case, why are we choosing to stay in this comfort instead of working alongside the natural evolution of life and maximizing our own abilities.

LAZE

Laziness kills. It really does. From laziness spawns procrastination. People oftentimes fill their free time with doom scrolling, idling around, and not necessarily wasting but moreso spending time on temporary/short-term endorphins such as socializing and putting all mental efforts into friendships. These connections are nice to have in the moment but in a long term development sense, these habits do not provide or create anything in terms of growth. I say this coming out of a two month period where without realizing, I not only overexerted and overcompensated socially, but also felt mentally depleted from this given my introverted nature. One day, the realization hit out of nowhere and I needed to set my priorities straight.

I believe laziness isn’t just about lack of action, but lack of intention. Without putting the effort of defining what it really is that you want to get out of your own and placing values in the right places, you wouldn’t even know what you’re working towards. Even the affluent blindly follow this. Once they reach a certain level of financial success and have satisfied such materialistic goals, they get stuck. They got lost for purpose in life after having made it to the “top” and not knowing what to do with it.

FINDING PURPOSE

I recently finished reading “Tuesday’s with Morrie” by Mitch Albon, a memoir where the author makes a series of visits to his old sociology professor dying of ALS, where they engage in discussions about life lessons in themes of love, materialism, relationships, purpose, etc. Maybe I will write a review on the book – it really hit close to home and is a literature piece I would recommend everyone to read. 

A takeaway I got that will most likely remain engrained in my mental framework is that “when you die, you don’t bring anything along with you.” It is only when one is capable of accepting death and the inevitable ending where one will finally learn how to live. Only then does one realize how all the materialistic things in life that you keep pushing towards, don’t have true meaning if all you have done your entire life is work towards but not actually appreciate or enjoy life. Power and control won’t give you the feeling you are looking for, whether it may be fulfillment or contention, no matter how much of it you have. 

 Me preaching this is funny because I’m still in my early 20s, lost in life, trying to make it on my own. While I agree with lots of what Morrie says, I struggle to embody these messages myself – especially as I reside in a large city that is the epidemic of consumerism’s final boss. 

I lost in life for sure. In the current state of having recognized that I’ve been allowing myself to sit in a state of mediocrity while knowing I could do more. But needing to take the steps towards it. Not knowing how to go about things after re-encountering the Dunning-Kruger effect with each corner turned. Despite having the intention and motivation there, it’s so easy to step back in and stay in the comfort zone. 

It is a fair and accurate statement to say that a large majority of the world lives in a state of mediocrity, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This doesn’t mean that one is living an unsatisfactory or undesirable life, it means for a simple, average life if that is what one is content with. That doesn’t sound so bad. There is a select few who strive above the rest. How do they do it? Honestly, I think a big part of it is foolish romanticism. But with genuine determination, desire, motivation, and most importantly discipline, it is formula that will lead to the anticipated path.

ANYWAYS..

I want to confront my discomforts. Risks are meant to be taken. Discomfort will always be inevitable, it is just a matter of how you are put into the position and the willingness to conquer and work through it. With great risks come greater returns. The level of asymmetry in the risk to reward is so heavy, where risks can still be either fixed or erased, I don’t see a reason not to build upon it. Nothing in life is consistent. There will suffering, there will be joy. So why not go face these challenges upfront and allow yourself to evolve into a better version of yourself.

In my next piece, I am thinking to delve into what I define as my personal discomfort that I want to attack. If you have made it here, thanks so much for coming along my longwinded mental roller coaster and see you in the next one!

待会儿见，

xffny