Reasons to Stay Alive
1172 sats \ 3 comments \ @Nadia 29 Apr alter_native
I read this short writing today and made me think a lot. It points out some truths that we are inclined to ignore. I couldn't resist the temptation to not share it with you. I think you would agree with me that this is exactly what is happening nowadays.
.________.
The world is increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn't very good for the economy.
If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more? How do you sell an anti-ageing moisturizer? You make someone worry about aging.
How do you get people to vote for a political party? You make them worry about immigration.
How do you get them to buy insurance? By making them worry about everything.
How do you get them to have plastic surgery? By highlighting their physical flaws.
How do you get them to watch a TV show? By making them worry about missing out.
How do you get them to buy a new smartphone? By making them feel like they are being left behind.
To be calm becomes a kind of revolutionary act. To be happy with your own non-upgraded existence. To be comfortable with our messy, human selves, would not be good for business.
Matt Haig
write
preview
related posts
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 29 Apr
Social-engineering is an underestimated skill.
reply
10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 29 Apr
I love Matt Haig’s books! Have you read The Midnight Library and The Comfort Book?
Here’s my book review for Reasons to Stay Alive
It may look like I was bored stiff by “Reasons to Stay Alive” but in actual fact, I thought @mattzhaig did an excellent job writing about a topic as serious as depression in an easy-to-access manner. So easy that I dared to bring this book to an outdoor camp, where the student noise threatened to rupture my eardrums. Back to the book. I used to think that anxiety leads to depression but after this book, I realise that anxiety and depression are 2 distinct conditions. Matt described the difference in a striking metaphorical manner: depression is like being stuck in a swamp while anxiety is like having whirlpools swirling in the swamp. I think I get it. One of the greatest strengths of this book is how Matt writes poignant truths via breathtaking literary devices. I found myself dogear-ing the pages ever so often. Take his depiction of mindfulness for instance: “as a way of adding punctuation into the breathless sentence of your life”. I don’t mean to say that he romanticised depression, only that he made it relatable for those of us who are spared from its clutches. Besides being vulnerable and sharing his struggles, he also wrote how undertaking various pursuits (running, reading, travelling) helped him manage his condition. I thought how remarkable he was to tackle depression from a position of resilience. The thing that I thought was lacking in the book was his relationship with his then-girlfriend (now-wife), Andrea. How did Andrea support him? Why didn’t she leave him? How did Matt choose to lean on her? Given that connections are the one factor that provide ammunition against life’s challenges, I thought describing how they coped with depression would add another dimension to the book. #igreads #bookstagram #reasonstostayalive #booksondepression #mentalhealth #resoluteagainstoppression
reply
10 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave 29 Apr
Great post. This is precisely why I have disappeared into the desert. We can make our own heaven on earth once we let go of all that noise. Thank you.
reply