This is so good! So true! I needed this today, and I know others who need to read it, too.
"However, the touching human longing for sympathy, that impulse to have our suffering recognised and validated, has grown distorted by a troubling compulsion for broadcast-suffering and comparative validity. In memoirs and reality shows, across infinite scrolls of social media feeds, the unlucky events of life (the cards we’ve been dealt with) have become the currency of attention and identification. The more you suffer, the more commodifiable you become as a brand and personality. It is part of an unspoken recipe for navigating out of irrelevance and obscurity into the seemingly warm embrace of public acknowledgement and acceptance."
This has bothered me for a long time and, whenever I've written about it, it's in such polite terms those who could use the advice wouldn't recognize themselves. You did it splendidly here.
Thanks so much for the response! It is a topic that I've always wanted to write about as it seems to surface as a common theme in how personal brands are commoditised these days. I think it is something that needs to be acknowledged more widely. The line between storytelling and broadcast-suffering is increasingly blurred.
This is so good! So true! I needed this today, and I know others who need to read it, too.
"However, the touching human longing for sympathy, that impulse to have our suffering recognised and validated, has grown distorted by a troubling compulsion for broadcast-suffering and comparative validity. In memoirs and reality shows, across infinite scrolls of social media feeds, the unlucky events of life (the cards we’ve been dealt with) have become the currency of attention and identification. The more you suffer, the more commodifiable you become as a brand and personality. It is part of an unspoken recipe for navigating out of irrelevance and obscurity into the seemingly warm embrace of public acknowledgement and acceptance."
This has bothered me for a long time and, whenever I've written about it, it's in such polite terms those who could use the advice wouldn't recognize themselves. You did it splendidly here.
Thanks so much for the response! It is a topic that I've always wanted to write about as it seems to surface as a common theme in how personal brands are commoditised these days. I think it is something that needs to be acknowledged more widely. The line between storytelling and broadcast-suffering is increasingly blurred.
I did and I do! Pls keep them coming! 😄
Excellent material for further pondering! Thank you for being so diligent in writing your musings so regularly! They are food for the soul.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it.