Novelty Without Prejudice

As humans,
We seek answers for all things.
By nature,
We are inquisitive.

In our world of rushing to
Be more,
Do more,
Have more,
Our freedom to stop and think
Becomes limited.

When we stop playing
Or pursuing our curiosity—
Discovering new ideas without prejudice—
We disconnect from ourselves.
We become agitated, unhappy,
Restless.

To protect us from realizing
What we’re missing—
Our natural, human state of being in the moment—
Those in control offer distractions:
Dopamine hits in the form of
Visual excitement and aural stimulation–
Video games,
Streaming,
Memes,
Sound bites,
Shorts.

Or…
You can fall down the rabbit hole
Into a community of belonging,
Bred in the dogma of
Us-versus-them,
Polarization,
Prejudice,
Grievance.
Constructed walls of
“I-don’t-care-to-know,”
And,
“It’s-not-my-responsibility.”

In this nonstop,
Fake-it-till-you-make-it,
Hopelessly consumeristic
Pay-attention-to-me,
Gen Z influencer social media world,
We lose ourselves—
Our self.

We surrender insight
To the glimmer of
External objects of attention,
Or a set of rules,
Followed with blind obedience.

When you are no longer aware
Of who you are being,
When you have forgotten
That the choice was yours,
You are consumed—
Bought without compensation,
Considered without regard.

“To become aware of what is happening, I must pay attention with an open mind. I must set aside my personal prejudices or bias. Prejudiced people see only what fits those prejudices.” —John Heider, “The Tao of Leadership.”