Awareness Vs Socially Engineered Brains
As I read this beautiful journal “The Wild Divine” gifted to me by one of my closest friends, Ana and sip my exquisite coffee, I feel unbelievably content with life. I soak in all the wisdom which goes like “Kuan Yin helps us to get out of our heads and shift into our hearts where our wild soul speaks to us” and very gently sip on my coffee secretly wishing it’s not my last sip. The sun is now shining on the very words I read, almost giving me a nod of approval. In this beautiful setting, there’s one flaw. The one flaw that gnaws at me every time. That’s my constant need to pick up the phone. I am aware of how it detracts me from surrendering fully to this moment that deserves all my attention and yet I continue to reach out for it. I am aware of how it sets me back a few moments since it takes me a while to go back to where I was before I reached out for it and yet I continue to reach out for it. I am aware of how (with all due respect) I don’t care about responding to people instantly or watch people’s lives on Instagram and yet aimlessly I reach out for it. At this point (where I am as I write this), I question the utility of awareness.
Is the tug of social engineering so strong that it’s fighting as an equal contender to the age-old wisdom of awareness?
It dawns on me that awareness is not a spiritual endeavor anymore but a necessity to live life on your own terms. I shamelessly debate about the power of free will & awareness and yet continue to dance to the rhythm of technology as the cries of my awareness start ebbing in the background until they fall silent. I continue to be mesmerized by my coffee, by the sun and the words I write and yet I’m aware of the immense energy being utilized to overcome the urge of reaching out for my phone.. just this once! I continue to preach the power of the present moment and yet I know I’m nothing but a hypocrite because if I respected the present so much, why would I let a tiny device pull me out of it? I continue to wail in different corners of my house as this constant headache I’ve come to live with wouldn’t go away and yet I know I’m nothing but an ignorant victim who doesn’t want to fix the cause but rather continues to tend to the symptoms. I watch movies like Oppenheimer and wonder to myself whether our era will be able to produce more geniuses that invested years and years into their discovery since we’re being meticulously engineered for an attention that lasts a few minutes before it craves a reward for even that.
As I put my phone on DND, set timers for Instagram and watch my screen time like a hawk, I wonder…… “Who’s going to win? The power of awareness or socially engineered brains?”
