All Hail Sincere Small Talk!
Morning Thoughts #16
“The deprecation tendency is an attempt to create the feeling of superiority by the degradation of one’s fellows.”- Alfred Adler
“Magical beliefs flourish amid a certain social consensus.” - Rene Girard
We can all feel it—something is not quite right. Many lies have been dispersed and are taking root like an invasive species, fertilized by the artificial manure of social media trends, cable news, the banal scripts of Hollywood blockbusters, and corporate advertising campaigns. Screen your screens! Trust the feelings you cannot quite name, and that the powerful do not wish to name for you. And above all, believe what you have observed and experienced before bowing your mind before tomorrow's headlines.
Headlines pounce on the darkness in our hearts, that part of every one of us that seeks solace in self-important assurances of personal victimhood and uniqueness in equal measure. Headlines can be wholesale dams on bloodlines, turning family member against family member, friend against friend, even though each has actually only experienced mutual love in real-time. Trust the love that greets you, be grateful for the gifts that are tangible or well-remembered, and break up with the agents of discord that are always seeking long-distance relationships with you!
Find community and embrace the feeling of connection! Social feeling is so much better than social scrolling! Kindly small talk at a local cafe, a sincere "good morning" aimed in my direction from a complete stranger, says more than it knows, a hope aligning itself against those that preach division and resentment—from a safe distance.