1666 || an online AYCE buffet, what are you eating?

If the internet is an AYCE buffet of unlimited, endless options, there’s bound to be items you find disgusting, that will make you physically ill. There’s also bound to be items you find delicious AND nourishing and can’t get enough of. But a majority of that buffet will be… fine.

It will be mediocre filler foods that you don’t remember eating at all. You may even fill yourself up on the “just okay ” foods and not realize how much better of a meal it could’ve been if you’d been more patient or critical with filling your plate.

Not to say that mindless consumption isn’t incredibly healing, sometimes.

I just think it’s become normal not to think about anything we engage with, and that can be more toxic than medicinal.

It is not all bad, it is not all good, but it is not neutral either. It is what I make of it. It is a reflection of how I engage with it.

It, like any tool, can be used as a weapon if we’re not being conscious with how we wield it.

This is why choosing to engage is such a powerful process.

Deciding when it’s too much, setting boundaries, creating realistic expectations, and being careful with not letting the algorithm co-opt my agency; all these take conscious effort.

The key is staying present and conscious as often as you can.

Engaging with shit because you want to, because you make the conscious choice to, not simply because it’s there.

I think a lot of us have become conditioned to believing “inconvenience is a barrier,” and in reality, on the other side of inconvenience is so much freedom and fulfillment.

A healthy amount of resistance is what builds muscles, minds, and ideas. Friction is not the enemy.

I think a healthy amount of well-placed friction is the only thing that keeps shit from sliding off the shelves and into a heap on the floor.

We are constantly bombarded with shit trying to make us numb, sad, hopeless, defeated, so that we become so overwhelmed with the idea of any additional discomfort (even when it’s the good kind) becomes absolutely unbearable.

The wealth-hoarding class wants us to be good little cattle who give over our time, data, energy, money, and peace without questioning.

So every time we act with intention, we push back against the systems of manipulation, profiting off of our misery.

Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.

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