Jared J. H. CatapanoFreeing One's self from distractions...
May 20th 2008 01:12
How exactly does one free themselves from the almost limitless barrage of distractions our current society throws our way?
Foul-mouthed celebrity chefs, the prime-time voyeurism that is Big Brother, negative news that just reinforces our learned helplessness, work, work, work, money, money, money, money, the idea of the promise of love, drugs, the self-help section of your local bookstore, all these things are set up to take your time and money while really, offering little in return apart from getting away from the fact that you just spent time and money persuing them.
Time you wont get back, money that will not be refunded, love that may be reciprocated etc...
I can go on about these distractions for eons, but it would be hypocritical of me to do so, as it depends on the individual's lifestyle that which dictacts 'what is a distraction?'
All I can do is offer up my distractions and how I plan to deal with them. As yet I have made no plans to do so, but by acknowledging them here with narcissitic fevour, at least I'll be doing something, as right now, I don't do a whole lot of anything.
My distractions:
1. Xbox 360: Why do games entertain me more than real life? Let's take the new GTA as an example. As a life simulation, it really does make life simpler. Need some money? Deliver some drugs for a friend, or kill someone another friend wants dead etc. CHA-CHING!
A lot easier than getting up every day at the SAME TIME to do the SAME SHIT for MINIMUM WAGE.
Want some loving? Take one of your girlfriends out on a date, all she asks is you turn up in a flash car (quite easy once you become a dab hand at car-jacking), and every once in a while, some new pants. You speed through the city, blowing traffic away until you get to where you're going, flash forward, and you're on you're way back to her place. If you have played your cards right, you might even get some virtual sex.
A lot easier than WORRYING about if the girl likes you or not, or if you are sure in your own feelings about her and not wanting to jump the gun and end up breaking her heart later just so you can get in her pants when you have a reliable porn collection at home, or if you are really MAKING A FOOL of yourself, or worrying about not remembering if you have worn the same PANTS every other time you have met up with the prospective partner. No SELF-DOUBT about wether or not you should make the first move, wether that touch on your arm was accidental etc, etc.
Plus travel is a lot easier.
2. Television: Ahh, tv. I remember the days, nay, YEARS that I have spent basking in it's warm glow. Morning cartoons, evening movies, the X Files, Sunday night movie (with no ads - for the first 30 mins), but now tv just makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. How often must I watch Gordon Ramsey per week, swearing his head off at some lazy bastard about being a lazy bastard when Ramsey has tonnes of cash, a loving family and roaring business? There can be empowerment in contentment, but do I need it crammed down my throat?
The endless parade of documentaries about the Iraq war, how screwed America is and how the rest of the world is f**ked, well, if that is meant to spur me to action, it doesn't. It only makes me feel more helpless and alone in the world.
Sitcoms can go screw themselves. I don't know ANYONE who lives like the people in current sitcoms. These young, urbane, white millionaires complaining about meaningless crap, leading us to some unfunny punch line with a laugh track installed just incase we DON"T GET THE JOKE. Sounds a lot like me really, but without the 'urbane', 'millionaire' or 'punchlines'. I do have my own laugh track though, up in my head, and it laughs at stuff most people would go into shock over.
The news, ohh god the news. Floods, drought, recession, war, famine, like that's mean't to make me want to get up the next morning and be a productive member of society. It wants to make me go on a killing spree over the misguided attempt to 'save' all these other innocent people from the horrible future that awaits them.
3. Drugs: I have had a long history with drugs. In my late teens, early 20's, booze was the one for me. Getting drunk every weekend, doing stupid stuff, all in good fun. After 25 though I took up quite a nice, constant intake of marijuana, which continues to this day. Another thing I would LOVE to give up for my 30th birthday. A present to myself; LIFE, POSSIBILITY.
Cigarettes have gone along with my weed 'addiction' (re: learned helplessness), and yup, I'm still on them. 4 minutes of pleasure, then 45 minutes thinking and waiting and justifying to yourself that you can now have another one. DISTRACTION!
But again, nice, constant, never changing.
And that's the problem. These distractions never really change.
Video games, ALL video games, once you strip them down to thier basics, are still variations of PONG.
ALL tv has been, is, and will be the same, until the end of tv, or until death-sports are introduced. Which is not far off.
My mother told me an anecdote about drugs, long before I started letting them do me, that still resonates around my head from time to time, and it is one of the truest things my mother has ever said to me,
'People who do drugs most of the time are searching, but they won't ever find what they're looking for, becasue what they're looking for is a high as good as the first one.'
And it's true. The first time one does drugs, it's instantly memorable. A once in a life time occurance. But after the 50th, 100th, or 3rd straight year of smoking pot every day, one can get into the frame of mind of 'what the hell am I even doing this for?'
The first high was great, but like anything and EVERYTHING, it won't last, it can't be replicated.
So it reaches a level and stays the same, like anything and EVERYTHING if you do it every day.
Sure, you can shake things up by making hash cookies, weed tea or doing spots on the stove, but that's kind of missing the point isn't it?
So when it comes to drugs, just remember the phrase coined by Tim Leary, 'TRANCENDENTAL MASTURBATION'.
Looking for the holy grail of drug use where you can keep doing drugs while making other things in your life work? That's for the lucky few, like the prize of celebrity or the lottery. It's not for everyone, can't be for everyone, as we all can't be millionaires and we all can't be well-functioning drug addicts. People just aren't made that way.
So is moderation the key? It sure is, but try telling that to me as I head into my second coffee in the last hour, my 3rd cig for the day, my atrocious self-doubt that tells me in the morning that I won't be smoking pot tonight and watching Gordon Ramsey and will actually sit down and do some refined thinking, when I will just smoke pot, have a 5th coffee, a 10th cigarette, another episode of the same Ramsey schtick....
Life comes in cycles all right...
So, how do we all deal with distractions and them getting in the way of our selves being born every second we acknowledge we are infact, being born every second?
Foul-mouthed celebrity chefs, the prime-time voyeurism that is Big Brother, negative news that just reinforces our learned helplessness, work, work, work, money, money, money, money, the idea of the promise of love, drugs, the self-help section of your local bookstore, all these things are set up to take your time and money while really, offering little in return apart from getting away from the fact that you just spent time and money persuing them.
Time you wont get back, money that will not be refunded, love that may be reciprocated etc...
All I can do is offer up my distractions and how I plan to deal with them. As yet I have made no plans to do so, but by acknowledging them here with narcissitic fevour, at least I'll be doing something, as right now, I don't do a whole lot of anything.
My distractions:
1. Xbox 360: Why do games entertain me more than real life? Let's take the new GTA as an example. As a life simulation, it really does make life simpler. Need some money? Deliver some drugs for a friend, or kill someone another friend wants dead etc. CHA-CHING!
A lot easier than getting up every day at the SAME TIME to do the SAME SHIT for MINIMUM WAGE.
Want some loving? Take one of your girlfriends out on a date, all she asks is you turn up in a flash car (quite easy once you become a dab hand at car-jacking), and every once in a while, some new pants. You speed through the city, blowing traffic away until you get to where you're going, flash forward, and you're on you're way back to her place. If you have played your cards right, you might even get some virtual sex.
Plus travel is a lot easier.
2. Television: Ahh, tv. I remember the days, nay, YEARS that I have spent basking in it's warm glow. Morning cartoons, evening movies, the X Files, Sunday night movie (with no ads - for the first 30 mins), but now tv just makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. How often must I watch Gordon Ramsey per week, swearing his head off at some lazy bastard about being a lazy bastard when Ramsey has tonnes of cash, a loving family and roaring business? There can be empowerment in contentment, but do I need it crammed down my throat?
The endless parade of documentaries about the Iraq war, how screwed America is and how the rest of the world is f**ked, well, if that is meant to spur me to action, it doesn't. It only makes me feel more helpless and alone in the world.
Sitcoms can go screw themselves. I don't know ANYONE who lives like the people in current sitcoms. These young, urbane, white millionaires complaining about meaningless crap, leading us to some unfunny punch line with a laugh track installed just incase we DON"T GET THE JOKE. Sounds a lot like me really, but without the 'urbane', 'millionaire' or 'punchlines'. I do have my own laugh track though, up in my head, and it laughs at stuff most people would go into shock over.
The news, ohh god the news. Floods, drought, recession, war, famine, like that's mean't to make me want to get up the next morning and be a productive member of society. It wants to make me go on a killing spree over the misguided attempt to 'save' all these other innocent people from the horrible future that awaits them.
3. Drugs: I have had a long history with drugs. In my late teens, early 20's, booze was the one for me. Getting drunk every weekend, doing stupid stuff, all in good fun. After 25 though I took up quite a nice, constant intake of marijuana, which continues to this day. Another thing I would LOVE to give up for my 30th birthday. A present to myself; LIFE, POSSIBILITY.
Cigarettes have gone along with my weed 'addiction' (re: learned helplessness), and yup, I'm still on them. 4 minutes of pleasure, then 45 minutes thinking and waiting and justifying to yourself that you can now have another one. DISTRACTION!
But again, nice, constant, never changing.
And that's the problem. These distractions never really change.
Video games, ALL video games, once you strip them down to thier basics, are still variations of PONG.
ALL tv has been, is, and will be the same, until the end of tv, or until death-sports are introduced. Which is not far off.
My mother told me an anecdote about drugs, long before I started letting them do me, that still resonates around my head from time to time, and it is one of the truest things my mother has ever said to me,
'People who do drugs most of the time are searching, but they won't ever find what they're looking for, becasue what they're looking for is a high as good as the first one.'
And it's true. The first time one does drugs, it's instantly memorable. A once in a life time occurance. But after the 50th, 100th, or 3rd straight year of smoking pot every day, one can get into the frame of mind of 'what the hell am I even doing this for?'
The first high was great, but like anything and EVERYTHING, it won't last, it can't be replicated.
So it reaches a level and stays the same, like anything and EVERYTHING if you do it every day.
Sure, you can shake things up by making hash cookies, weed tea or doing spots on the stove, but that's kind of missing the point isn't it?
So when it comes to drugs, just remember the phrase coined by Tim Leary, 'TRANCENDENTAL MASTURBATION'.
Looking for the holy grail of drug use where you can keep doing drugs while making other things in your life work? That's for the lucky few, like the prize of celebrity or the lottery. It's not for everyone, can't be for everyone, as we all can't be millionaires and we all can't be well-functioning drug addicts. People just aren't made that way.
So is moderation the key? It sure is, but try telling that to me as I head into my second coffee in the last hour, my 3rd cig for the day, my atrocious self-doubt that tells me in the morning that I won't be smoking pot tonight and watching Gordon Ramsey and will actually sit down and do some refined thinking, when I will just smoke pot, have a 5th coffee, a 10th cigarette, another episode of the same Ramsey schtick....
Life comes in cycles all right...
So, how do we all deal with distractions and them getting in the way of our selves being born every second we acknowledge we are infact, being born every second?
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