Everyone Is Numbing Out

We all know that life does not hand out bouquets. Flowers do not just appear in the world. The same is true for a life of meaning. Both are grown, over time, from the tiniest seeds. You have to cultivate meaning in your life. You need to do the hard work of tilling the soil and nurturing the seeds. No one can do it for you. Grow your own flowers an... See more

Besides, we’ve all been cornered by the guy at the bar with a well-worn paperback in his pocket who locks eyes with you and whispers, “But how are you, really?” as if it’s a profound question. I would hate to subject anyone to such an encounter.

Rather than jump to sincerity, I’d like to start with basic honesty . It would be great if we started ju... See more

“It is a joy to be hidden, and a disaster not to be found.”

It is a disaster not to be found, a total disaster to not be able to connect with others because we were too preoccupied with ourselves. The whole reason for ironic detachment is to build a protective wall between oneself and the world. We think we’re building a wall, but we’re really holl... See more

there’s a real lack of palpable ambition and vitality these days, a stunning lack of life force in the world

It’s not hard to see where the pervasive numbness comes in from here, as a sort of sinister phase two. The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy. I hope it’s obvious why this is a problem, but maybe you’re still thinking so what. To put it succinctly: when you take an ironic, negative, or numb attitude to everything, you are by definition not on... See more

Life has gotten very chaotic incredibly quickly. It has become increasingly difficult to parse anything from the static. People started coping with this lack of meaning through a kind of ironic detachment (which is very much still around), but it has matured into a pervasive cultural apathy, a permeating numbness. This isn’t nihilism per se. (Even ... See more

Rest in Peace David Foster Wallace, you would have loved Barbie. We swim in a wretched sea of meaningless mush, and when you have to trudge through nothing but slop all day, every day, it gets harder and harder to not numb out. I really cannot emphasize it enough: there’s so much and it just keeps coming. There’s lots to do. There’s lots to buy. Th... See more