🔊 “We're not scaremongering. This is really happening, happening…”
Object by Oliver Smart / https://www.oliversmartstudio.com
1. Here I'm alive, Everything all of the time
Greetings!
Wonder where people are hanging out online these days?
I am friends with several who are barely active on various social media. Yet though such lurker connections appear inactive, they tend to surprise me when they beep private messages, with regular queries for recommendations on becoming more resilient to avoid mental meltdowns from all the pervasive SNAFU:
On one hand, I spend too much time scrolling which feels like it drains my soul, and see a lot of negative/polarised stuff. On the other hand, feels like I’m cutting myself off from the modern world, and it is sometimes useful/nice (e.g. some interest groups I’m in). Would be interested to know your thoughts. - M
I’m grateful that some seek out my conversation and contributions. This is therefore dedicated to those who continue to value my takes on what’s going on, even if I have been occasionally guilty of publishing intentionally challenging material.
First, here’s two basic rules of engagement when embroiled in the electronic tentacles of the web: 1) Observe rather than Absorb, and 2) You don't have to do what everyone else is doing.
As per usual, there’s too much going on with the world-at-large.
This is what I mean when I refer to the current times we live in as ‘metamodern’.
If modern from the Latin modo means ‘just now’, that is, relating to present or recent times, and meta is a prefix used to signify a range, such as ‘after’, ‘beyond’, ‘change’ and ‘alteration’ – then combining the two attempts to identify the ‘everything everywhere all at once’ states of living in the 21st century.
Before I signpost elsewhere for additional information about this metamodernism, I invite you to picture the contrast of an imagined versus the actual ‘global village’ – which is a multiverse of divergent identities. The cultural concoction of The Internet + Mobile Devices x Social Media Platforms, has created timeline rifts, where the narrative structures that frame our lives have become plural and prolific. We can’t seem to escape from the onslaught of 24/7 newsfeeds, even if you opt for a dumb phone or go on digital detox.
One might agree we live in an age of complexity and escalation, because our histories are happening in real time, and it’s a collision of multiple past, present and future scenarios. You could define this earthly existence as in-between worlds, yet being fought over by tug-of-war battles with the intermingling of sequential generations. There’s much uncertainty about how we resolve the numerous crises. It can be chaotic, confusing, and therefore, messy.
The one thing you might want to remember is that the way forward is to keep going, maybe with some spirited determination, proactive optimism or some other metaphysical motivation known only to you.
Here’s some art for contemplation, called Everything is going to be alright, by Guido van der Werve (2007):
2. Do or Don’t Give a F
What’s the fuss about some fancy label of how all is quite effed up beyond repair?
Perhaps the FUBAR that people are too busy preoccupied with is monopolised by techno-feudalist capitalism; who has time and energy to comprehend an emerging glitchy paradigm like meta-bla-bla-ism?
There’s a saying that “…we don't know who discovered water, but we're pretty sure it wasn't a fish.” There’s so much chatter about how we need to have ‘awareness’ of all the surging social problems of the planetary population, yet how much are we really sensing the environmental dimensions of our sensibilities? Maybe people are too worried about being swept by the rip-tides of emotional swells; sink or swim, in the currents of events. From exclaiming WTF or WTAF, to F-this or F-that, it seems we’re struggling with the psychological wear and tear of whether or not to care.
People have bills to pay, endless lists of things to get done, and yolo ffs.
Many are exasperated by the urgent necessity to survive the grind, struggling to fulfil the day-to-day obligations of their realities. People make-do, get by, manage, cope… and while billions endure the overwhelming intensity in pace, speed and scale of keeping up with the Joneses, with its hyper-reality anxieties, consensus terrorism, audience capture and groupthink communities, there remains a desire to seek ways to flourish and thrive.
There are those that demand for immediate seismic paradigm shifts, yet somehow forget that seismos means earthquakes, and therefore terraforming (or terror forming) consequences. Ground-breaking innovation may bring instability, insecurity, and having to start from ground zero.
Human hands made many machines, and in turn mechanics and mass-media shape our doings and being. What cultural sequences might we remember to re-programme our systems?
What pushes y/our buttons?
Ctrl + Alt + [someone]
Ctrl + Shift + [something]
Fuck this bullshit.
Make shit happen.
Engage!
Placard some Call to Action.
TLDR.
3. Enter, The Enterprising
To boldly go big or go home – oh agents, bosses, chiefs, confidence men, dealers, founders, go-getters, hustlers, mediators, merchants, opportunists, peddlers, pushers, scenesters, schemers, speculators, traders, vendors…
In an economic system propped by buyers and sellers of [things], it seems the Industries of Business runs the bread + butter of our consumer/customer existence. Whilst there are plenty of significant pioneers and innovators, the market will of course be played by The Grifters.
The Grift, is the game of manoeuvring, where pirates, quack-doctors and snake oil salesmen reskin their labels to attract those adrift by ambivalence, procrastination or suffering in seas of troubles. Today we might recognise their charismatic chameleon suits, dressed as coaches, influencers, personal-professional development gurus, etc. Whether inside the driver’s seat in their parked car, working out at the gym, seated sartorially with their bookshelves in the background, or casually going in some outdoors walk – some form of Main Character Energy as The Protagonist, Public Speaker or Internet Personality will address a captive audience behind the broadcasting screen of the Smart Cellphone.
Some might complain or lament about the channels of [insert infamous celebrity names of choice] – there’s no disputing their prowess in terms of popularity and profits. Yet grifters are to be found in numbers too amongst allegedly authentic change-the-world circles, especially those pounding the battle drums and sounding the panic alarms, i.e. Climate Keyword organisations.
Meanwhile The Drift, is not necessarily just those who are alienated, disaffected, estranged, and aimlessly wondering where to go. It can be useful to ride with the flow, albeit strong discernment is required. It can be healthy to just float like driftwood, able to help others find rest or safety from the drowning. Some drifters eventually find momentum or solid ground, and drive towards directions with intentions.
In an algorithm-based culture driven by constant and ceaseless content kingpins, CONTEXT is the ACE in your hand. The imagination quests of today demand more than mere visual reception, if one is determined to sift through so much deception generated by the self-perpetuating construct of the ‘impostor syndrome’. Rather than just take control, which is what the billionaires are racing for, we could steer more expertly towards alternative pathways.
It’s also good to note this notion that people can create the resources they need to make the changes that they want. There are no un-resourceful people, only un-resourceful states.
The Make-Shift is a process many are already familiar with. What if we’re more ready than we realise? The invitation is to get comfortable embracing phases of the transitional and stages of the improvisational. To do this, you’ll need to collect your bespoke Toolkit for Perception Training, and I’ve listed some sites to read where you might discover thinking tiles that you may choose to keep for your life game strategies:
OTHER SUBSTACKS
Discover what an EGREGORE is // “If social media were actually transforming us into a group mind, wouldn’t this be obvious? Unfortunately, I think not. In fact, I’d even propose there are good reasons to think that the process might instead be extremely subtle.”
Investigate REALITY DISTORTION FIELDS // “As with all wars, information operations are a critical battlefront. This time, these take on a new shape and form. Information sleuths can't discern whether war-time propaganda comes from state actors, intelligence agencies, Israeli or Palestinian-leaning advocates, or bots. Content shared is simultaneously real, repurposed from previous war coverage, or purposefully fake.”
FOLLOW SOME RABBITS
DO YOU WANT TO GET PHYSICAL?
How’s your yoga & meditation habit? Get your employer to pay for your wellbeing.
What’s your gaming appetite? Consult with a cultural ecologist or games sommelier. That would be me ;)
Thank you again, for allocating some time to digest or skim all that!
For the newly subscribed, here’s a poetic blurb about this newsletter,
written by a gifted storyteller (and friend) who diligently produces
an indispensable podcast series on The End of Tourism:
“Rina is an agent-provocateur joyfully scrying the cultural signs. Take note.
Holy Hand Grenades is a contemplative prayer & protest braided by the times.”
— ⌘ Chris Christou ⌘