Life Is Long If You Know How To Use It 🌹

Before we dive in, I have two opportunities for you:

If you're interested in philosophy and spirituality, self-improvement, and online business, you can join my Discord to chat with me directly and connect with people who share your interests
If you're a creator (writer, podcaster, YouTuber, musician, artist, etc.), and you need help building an audience and monetizing your passion, you can schedule a FREE coaching call with me

What Have We Traded For "Progress"?

I've spent much of the last six months with my head buried in two kinds of books: texts from the ancient past and texts about the ancient past. What can I say? I'm a huge nerd – and proud of it.

The deeper I dive, the more I've found myself asking one question:

Has anything really changed for the better?

I mean, sure, Amazon and cars are pretty impressive innovations which have resulted directly from scientific exploration and capitalistic expansion.

However, the more I think about how I spend my days, what I want from life, and what actually makes me happy, I can't help but wonder: has all this innovation truly increased the quality of my life?

Let's consider Amazon.

Through Amazon, I can order physical goods from anywhere in the world and get them delivered directly to my door. However, if ecommerce weren't an option, is it possible that my community would feature a larger array of boutique shops which specialize in trading the specific goods that I often buy on Amazon, which mostly fall into the categories of health supplements and books?

I recall ten years ago being able to spend hours in the local shopping mall drinking smoothies with my friends while browsing interesting collections of goods including music, collectibles, clothes, and just about anything else I could imagine.

Now, the Merritt Square Mall is a ghost town. The parking lot is empty, and inside the mall, only 50% of the storefronts are being used. Commerce has gone digital, which has contributed to the atrophy of small businesses and physical retail in my small Florida town.

Now, let's consider cars.

My car allows me to wake up in Cocoa Beach, then spend a day at Universal Studios, and then catch the sunset over Tampa Bay all in the span of 16 hours. At the same time, my air conditioned box of steel and glass isolates me from the physical world that stretches between me and my intended destinations.

In contrast, whenever I ride my skateboard through my city, I'm amazed at how many interesting small businesses are hidden in strip malls and down side roads all over town. In a world without cars, these cafes, kava bars, boutique shops, eccentric arcades, music studios, and martial arts dojos would be thriving off of foot traffic.

Instead, they get neglected. These small business owners who are taking risks to provide services to their local community get completely ignored as mere obstacles between major destinations like Longhorn, Olive Garden, Publix, and Target.

I can't help but wonder: have these innovations we call "progress" actually made the human experience better, or have we simply bowed in submission to some False God Of Technology, spending our days in worship and service of "innovation" and "progress" while neglecting our bodies, minds, and souls?

All these innovations – cars, cell phones, social media, air conditioning – are supposed to make our lives better. But in practice, they become a cage, isolating us from some of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience: breathing fresh air in the sun while talking face-to-face with our loved ones.

In the pursuit of progress, we've somehow ended up discarding the most human parts of ourselves.

Quote Of The Week

"Why do we complain about nature? She has acted kindly: life is long if you know how to use it.

But one man is gripped by insatiable greed, another by a laborious dedication to useless tasks. One man is soaked in wine, another sluggish with idleness. One man is worn out by political ambition, which is always at the mercy of the judgement of others. Another through hope of profit is driven headlong over all lands and seas by the greed of trading.

Some are tormented by a passion for army life, always intent on inflicting dangers on others or anxious about danger to themselves. Some are worn out by the self-imposed servitude of thankless attendance on the great. Many are occupied by either pursuing other people's money or complaining about their own.

Many pursue no fixed goal, but are tossed about in ever-changing designs by a fickleness which is shifting, inconstant, and never satisfied with itself. Some have no aims at all for their life's course, but death takes them unawares as they yawn languidly – so much so that I cannot doubt the truth of that oracular remark of the greatest of poets: 'It is a small part of life we really live.'

Indeed, all the rest is not life, but merely time." – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

The Future Isn't Promised: Live Immediately

How much of your life have you truly lived? Specifically, what percentage of your life have you spent aware of, engaged in, and happy about your actions? Would you say that you've spent more of your life living, or existing in a state of absent-minded numbness, perhaps augmented by chemical sedatives or idle entertainment?

Detachment from the present moment is an ancient problem. People have always found a way to avoid facing the present moment in favor of a fantasy of the future, a memory of the past, or a distraction in the present.

However, I think today, more than ever, "progress" has thrown the door wide open for people to avoid living on purpose, which is causing people to die with mountains of regrets:

When I'm out on a date and I see people's eyes glued to their phones, I wonder how many of them are even aware that they're alive, and that they're neglecting what could be the last night they ever have in this world.
When I'm walking through campus and I see students rushing to class, I wonder how many of them even wanted to go to college, and out of those, how many are studying topics they actually want to learn about.
When I'm commuting to my job on a busy Sunday afternoon and I see someone overcome with rage at a stoplight with their kids in the backseat, I wonder if they realize that, in that exact moment, they're teaching their children to emulate their behavior.

So many of us – myself included – trade away our lives to jobs we hate just so we can afford stuff we don't need to impress people we don't like.

In order to optimize ourselves around these empty goals, we try to hack our brains and optimize our habits to become productive little machines just so we can compete in the Bullshit Olympics and maybe earn a neat little message on our tombstones.

Meanwhile, we neglect the things we're passionate about and the people we love.

Even worse, we never make time for the authentic self-reflection (AKA philosophy) that lets us access the wellspring of joy that bubbles endlessly inside us, waiting for us to take a drink and experience eternal ataraxia (peace).

No: we avoid living because it's hard. It requires us to set boundaries, to make sacrifices, and to let go of control over the world around us. It requires us to give thanks under all circumstances, and to face shit that scares us.

But here's the absolute worst part: no matter how much we avoid living, we can never avoid dying.

Death has a surprise party planned for each one of us, and there's no way to avoid it.

So what should you do?

Live immediately, while you still can. Don't wait for permission to become yourself.

Question Of The Week

Have you ever allowed yourself to want something from life? If so, how are you actively pursuing it? If not, then what are you waiting for – who, if not you, is qualified to give you permission to become yourself?

Events

Book Club: This month in my Patreon Book Club, I'm going through two short texts: On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca and The Book Of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. If you want to read along and discuss, you can join my Patreon Community for $1 per month.

Some Stuff You'll Like

I launched a bunch of new merch in the last few weeks including a shirt, a pin, a keychain, and two stickers. If you decide to hit the shop, use the code MEMENTOMORI to take 20% off everything in the Memento Mori collection.
I recently got a piece published in The Post-Grad Survival Guide on Medium: Check it out here: Success Is Overrated–The Work is The Reward
I just published a podcast with one of my favorite writers on Medium, Isaiah McCall. We covered topics including philosophy, stoicism, discipline, masculinity, drugs, creativity, and lots more. Listen on your favorite podcast platform here or watch on YouTube here.
If you're an indie music fan, you'll probably enjoy my Indie Excellence playlist which features tracks from artists with less than 1000 followers on Spotify.

I Have 3 Opportunities For You

If you want to master your mind, manifest your power, and create your ideal self, there are three ways I can help you do that:

If you enjoy my writing, you can subscribe to my newsletter (that's what you're reading right now!)
If you're interested in philosophy and spirituality, self-improvement, and online business, you can join my Discord to chat with me directly and connect with people who share your interests
If you're a creator (writer, podcaster, YouTuber, musician, artist, etc.), and you want help getting started, building an audience, or monetizing your passion, you can schedule a FREE coaching call with me

Helpful Links

Hey, I'm Chris

don't waste your life 🌹