3-16-24 Taking off the Costume
I am overwhelmed by my production of stuff. The house is crowded, closets full, no room on the walls, and the studio overflowing. And still, it seems that it is not enough. More must be seen, realized, understood, imagined, produced, and shared.
I was looking at social media this morning. I find few friends there, but there are ever more clever sites that I should join. Everything is manufactured for my entertainment, and I am entertained endlessly and compulsively. By the end of the day, I sense that I have an addiction to stimulation.
I have learned so much: how to mend clothes, how to start a no-dig garden, and how to take care of my sciatica (do I have sciatica?). I have more reasons to start HRT therapy as a menopausal woman. I see the oppressed, the political, the spoiled up-and-coming successful women - the new feminists. And I like and save endless exercise videos to do later. Why was I there? To share my artwork and be a friend? Why am I surprised that neither seems to gain much traction?
Last night, I imagined social media as a way to enter the human collective brain (consciousness) and watch the contents scroll by. We feed the brain with likes and attention to content. If a new interest emerges, it opens a new channel of consciousness for our view. We can’t take it all in; we are too slow in our consumption. But every time we participate, it opens up more for us to see. We may get stuck in a rut, which will be enough for us. We feel secure, entertained, and satisfied with the variations on the theme. “It” knows what we like. We have let it know that we want more of the same. We are being managed.
If we are life and life has somehow fallen into the trap of generating more content through human creativity, how do we clean up our act? How do we acknowledge the addiction to production, consumption, stimulation, and identity? How do we return to a simple existence where everything is provided (acknowledged that some effort is needed to feed and house ourselves)? How do we see ourselves as Life, and not a separate, imagined persona that lives apart from life, that has a “life”?
The “how” question may be misleading. It is a matter of seeing, questioning, and waking up from culture's take-over. We must see our participation in endlessly generating an alternate reality. Can we just walk away? Should we walk away? Do we need to leave some signs for others to follow? (Or will that be the trap to keep us there and generating more content?)
I have written and made art about this many times. Taking off the Costume comes to mind. But still, I find myself trying to solve my feelings of separation through the generation of content, through making art, through presenting my gifts to others who are reluctant to take them, and my offer of friendship. Maybe the exchange is too much, or too little, Maybe they don’t want my offer as I don’t want theirs. We are shopping, but not for each other. I expected this path to open up love and appreciation, not just mutual utilization. It hasn’t so far. Will it, can it? Could we agree that only when the costume comes off will we see each other as Life, the same Life?
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