Consume
We are a generation / culture / people / “civilization” of consumers.
Marketing / media / dopamine / greed / addiction / fulfillment / progress
it all factors in.
Consume comes from the Latin consumere — to destroy, to exhaust, to annihilate, to devour, to finish, to squander, to devastate, to deplete, to waste…
sounds about right.
Destroy… the environment.
Exhaust… life force.
Annihilate… connection.
Devour… real abundance.
Finish… and leave nothing.
Squander… natural beauty.
Devastate… relationships.
Deplete… future generations’ resources.
Waste… precious time.
The "economy"
consisting of bottom lines,
fiat currencies,
spreadsheets,
P&Ls,
M&As,
cost savings,
investments & loans,
dividends & futures,
interest rates,
fractional reserves,
&c, &c, &c,
(fueled by power, greed, scarcity, self-interest, and “dreams”)
are abstract
mechanistic
extractive
concepts
philosophies
strategies
with real world consequences
on,
well,
everything.
People (& Planet)
now
(have) become
abstract.
We (have) become numbers,
data,
statistics,
commodities,
targets,
goals,
objectives,
audiences,
objects to be bought and sold and leveraged…
We (have) become a means to an end,
thingified,
disposable,
expendable,
exploitable,
fungible,
mined for resources.
Human beings (have) become human doings
And
Human doings are humans extracting
and hurting…
We are
humans hurting
hurting humans
and
humans hurting
all life.
Do we hurt because we can't afford more products?
Do we hurt because we can buy more?
.
Do we hurt because others don't buy what we produce?
Do we hurt because others buy in excess?
.
Do we hurt because we participate in merely transactional relationships?
Do we hurt because we are missing meaningful, authentic relationships?
We frenetically run from one purchase to the next.
One thing to the next.
One dopamine hit to the next.
One coupon,
deal,
sale,
offer,
bundle,
discount,
‘twofer,’
special promotion
to the next.
When & how & where do we hop off this loop of pending demise?
When & how & where do we recognize what’s outside us?
When & how & where do we see what’s inside us?
When & how & where do we change,
learn,
shift,
transform
or is it too late
?
Are we too drunk on
convenience,
new things,
sparkly objects,
status,
money,
power
and more
?
When & how & where do we sober up…
retreat from our self-created, material insanity
and remember the essence of humanity
the true essence…
the fabric of the cosmos itself (& yourself & ourselves)…
the interconnection of people & planet & universe &…
?
When & how & where do we pause…
to recognize
that unifying force that is one and all…
that invisible thing that un-thingifies & re-thingifies us…
and brings us swirling & whirling into intimacy…
?
When & how & where do we choose…
to become
regenerative humans…
living in symbiosis
in harmony
in beautiful ways
with the wonder-filled world…
?
When & how & where do we lay aside our hubris…
and humble ourselves in the face of mortality
and gaze into the eyes of the beloved meek
and become swallowed by something more universal than ME
?
Have we been consumed by our own consumption
taken, twisted and trashed
beyond redemption
?
