=money, longevity, beauty, fun, sex, fitness and health, blablabala
all that “superficial” shit,
is just plain GOOD
the only catch is that it DOESN’T GUARANTEE happiness
(and in EXTREME cases — absence of those things also doesn’t guarantee unhappiness)
that’s the only catch, the only shocking secret
besides that catch — those things are OBVIOUSLY great
at all likelihood — having more of them would make you happier
it would VERY UNLIKELY make you less happy
that catch itself is slightly “deeper”
in that what follows from those things NOT guaranteeing happiness — is that PURSUING THEM will DISTRACT from the actual happiness
and that is the “great spiritual wisdom”, if you will
that you only ever experience happiness now. obviously.
And that it’s a function of what you’re thinking and FEELING, right now
(Which itself is likely just a function of what is going on in your brain. Nothing particularly romantic, in that sense)
Of course we take good advice and overblow it, and turn it into religion
To feel as though we have the answers
To feel more important
And to sound more convincing to other clueless cunts
We do this even with OBJECTIVELY good things, not in any way “shallow” or subjective,
We like to shit on things around us — because it makes us look edgy and opinionated and visionary
The lowest hanging fruit of individuality — say that you HATE something everyone else loves
It can even become quite a large scale meme: like west hating the west
Indeed,
I don’t believe you should pass up anything that’s good
Good is to be celebrated
The only reason to pass up something good — is if you have something even better
e.g. purpose
Pleasure gets boring — purpose gives both pleasure and meaning
But otherwise you not giving yourself those OBVIOUS good things — is you just hating yourself
You sure like the validation of not being a “greedy capitalist” or an “empty hedonist”, at least in your imagination
But maybe if you really loved yourself — you’d just let yourself have MORE of those good things in life
Furthermore,
While desperate pursuit of anything only begets more desperation = misery, scarcity, stress, dissatisfaction…
…a healthy pursuit of an inspiring and ambitious and fun goal is REINVIGORATING
We seek this sense of aliveness in ton of stupid nonsense: TV, extreme sports, social media, DUMB hedonism, travelling, silly hobbies…
Instead we could get all of that and more — if we actually set a really hard goal and set about accomplishing it
…and thus, even a “superficial” desire, like “solving the money problems” — will actually accidentally make you FAR MORE ALIVE — then act of chasing aliveness and excitation otherwise, in contrived, artificial ways
Finally,
Of course PRETENDING one doesn’t like what one likes,
pretending one doesn’t want what one wants,
can only lead to something far more toxic
It is pure denial, ignorance, untruth, LIE
Because everything you build upon that foundation — can only collapse
The entire structure is wobbly, and the more you expand it, the more insecure it becomes,
Until it finally crashes down, spectacularly
It is an absolute disaster
Pretentiousness is an absolute fucking disaster
You make yourself miserable pretending you’re better than you actually are
How about embracing who you are, what you are — and then doubling down on those things at which you’re ACTUALLY very good at
And how about treating yourself to some of those good things, before you die