In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post-office. You may depend on it, that poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, proud of his extensive correspondence, has not heard from himself this long while.
Walden
Henry David Thoreau
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| Adrift by Andrew Wyeth |
It takes a great deal of effort to pull away from the prevailing culture and assert your independence of mind. Henry David Thoreau, in the days before even the telephone existed, recognized the problem of people going to the post office multiple times a day to check their mailbox. And now we can check the equivalent of our mailbox a thousand times a day via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or dozens of other apps that basically serve the same purpose--did anyone reward me with a click. Stop! Would you not be better served if you spent your time exploring your own mind without the mindless interruptions and random searches brought on by the distraction economy. We have the greatest minds of all the ages right at our fingertips, but you would rather follow some inane person offering their opinion on Taylor Swift or The Top 10 Puppy Breeds. You have but one life to live and you have decided to give a part of it up to the empty pursuit of idiotic messages from the mindless world of the mass media. The greatest thing to explore is not the internet, but your own mind. But part of that is the creation of a mind worthy of being known. If all your thoughts are low and guided by trivial desires such as the latest brand of X or the new Y then knowing yourself is not going to be rewarding. You have to create that mind worthy of being known. You have to put your head down and work. Be well.
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