It’s always occurred to me that $30.00 books that tell you how to save money probably should begin with “Lesson 1: Don’t buy $30.00 books that tell you how to save money.”
Similarly with ‘self-help’ books, life coaches and many of the one-line online gurus who spout off their quote of the day. I wonder sometimes what kind of hardships someone with a Masters and PHD has ever had to endure. That’s not to bemoan my own situation too much. No one likes self-pity, but there appears to be a new industry of people who just earn money off of relaying tidbits that can be found, rather, should be found in their original source materials.
A recent Twitter post sums it up: “Life attracts Life.” What the hell does that even mean? Even though it’s written out to be read, the Tao Te Ching must be lived, it cannot really be taught. So do these people who quote Lao Tzu even understand the Tao? One famed Buddhist monk gave a lesson of the path to enlightenment by silently holding up a Lotus Leaf. Somehow one-liners fail to reflect this greater lesson: “The way to enlightenment is to watch my podcast.”
I find many of these self-helpers are probably helping themselves, to your money and time, as much as anything. But there’s something tawdry and seemingly somewhat fraudulent by peddling and re-packaging age-old wisdom in 140-character Tweets. Can you imagine Plato’s Republic written 140 characters at a time? Or read that way?
If I were to offer help to someone I’d honestly have to say that life is a process of learning. Just like working out, the failures, pushing oneself to the stressful results of testing one’s boundaries, tearing at the emotional muscles, is what gives way to true growth. I doubt that simply offering simple rubrics about life force, energy or ‘god’ (whatever that means to you), without truly understanding the underlying emotional pain that someone has felt can actually cut to the quick of solving someone’s troubles. So it’s either, go into therapy and counseling or engage yourself in a deeper search for meaning.
Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps there are Shamans walking amongst us? However, a quick review of LinkedIn shows a troubling number of ‘Life Coaches.’ There were never that many wizards in ancient societies. Perhaps that too indicates the source of some of my dilemma with today’s self-help industry. Going back to my opening statement, if I could offer one piece of advice to anyone seeking solutions to life’s questions it would be that there are no short-cuts. You have to read and think to grow. Don’t pay me. Spend money on a few good books that will lead you to the true great works of literature that others prostitute under their own Twitter identity. Better yet, take them out from the Library.
People have suggested and I’ve briefly considered this line of work. What else is an Arts major to do in these trying economic times where communications and government relations jobs, particularly in a small community like London with seemingly little interest in civic discourse? Helping others seems easy enough – particularly with some of the traumas and issues I’ve dealt with in my 38 years. That being said I’m no Plato. Or Freud. Or Jung. And those three really didn’t earn a living off anyone else’s thoughts repackaged as their own. Well, except for Plato but he was Socrates’ student so you get my drift.
Symbolic of my questioning of the field of life coaching, I recently started a blog about personal wellness. Unlike my political and urban-development focused blogs, this one was an attempt to create a living journal of my journey back to peak health. Perhaps it’s simply a symptom of my late 30’s career confusion that I haven’t posted anything to it very recently.
In the words of Neil Postman, celebrated media critic and writer, we are living in a time of information glut. Our culture is overwhelmed with information and yes there are people who can benefit from a little self-help without deeper analysis or thought. However, it seems to me from the reading I’ve been doing most lately, that bigger and more is not the solution to the issues that so many people face today. People are already overwhelmed. How long have there been “Thought of the Day” desk calendars. Twitter has made it "The Thought of the Half-Hour". The blogger's need to attract traffic makes it overwhelming.
Today’s Machiavellian Tweet: “Keep your enemies close and your Twitter followers closer.”
This all leads me to the thoughts I’ve been struggling with recently about how to earn a living and why I am on this earth. How does one make one’s way as a bit of a writer, critical thinker, contrarian and somewhat philosophical type? Is there a need for another amateur blogger who seeks incessant ‘traffic’ to generate money for large corporations that advertise online? I’ve thus far resisted ‘monetizing’ my blogs and I really would like to keep it that way but I guess that’s just a form of pious self-righteousness.
However, it’s also a comment that there is already too much advertising and part of my life’s desire is to reduce the commoditization of the world. We’re inundated in every part of our lives with ads, product placements and lifestyle-oriented sales pitches. The envy industry is everywhere, hoping we’ll find that the answers to life’s shortcomings are to be found in the next purchase. (and thanks to Mark Kingwell for pointing that out.)
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