Ever seen one of these DIY channels on TV? I saw one, recently. It’s torture. This time they showed how to install an entire bathroom from scratch. As to be expected, they’ve got some grizzled old vet with twenty plus years of experience to put everything together. The kind of guy with forearms that can bend a solid bar of steel. So they hand him the latest and greatest tools provided by the channel’s sponsors, and in about fifteen minutes the job’s done without even so much as breaking a sweat. Meanwhile, they’ve got that voice over, spoken with perfect pronunciation, providing all the steps, almost tricking the audience into believing the biggest idiot could pull this one off without a hitch. Live a couple of years on this planet, however, and you tend to figure out that’s not how it works in real life.
Earn enough life experience and you tend to become more of a sceptic, or so I’ve found. Walk into a book shop and there lies another debut that’s somehow a New York Times bestseller. Again. For the umpteenth time. Look into some of these debuts and it turns out that there’s more to the story. The author may already have twenty fantasy books to his name. Wait a minute, wasn’t this meant to be his debut? Well, he’s never written a literary romance novel before. So, technically speaking, it’s his first one in this genre, his literary romance novel debut. Those in the know see through the trick. The public don’t. As far as they know, the author’s a one of a kind genius who just picked up his pen ten minutes ago and wrote a bestseller.
Let’s keep it real. DIY sucks and, likely, you’re not the kind of genius to pick up a pen and write the next great literary classic. This is where someone comes along and promises a shortcut. Listen to a podcast, any podcast. Nowadays, you’ll hear someone like Arnold or comedian Jimmy Carr dish out all sorts of life advice. Out of the goodness of their heart? Not quite. In reality, they’re there to promote stuff. Like a biography, for instance. Someone like Arnold will either write his biography himself or have it written for him by a ghostwriter. He’ll tell you that he’s looked back over his life, and that he’s found the seven keys to his good fortune. But listen to him speak and you’ll notice that he’s practically reciting some of these 1980s motivational seminars. He has that glint in his eyes of someone who’s gotten himself into the self-help rabbit hole. And I’m sure he’s fully sincere. He fully believes that he’s found the recipe for success. And, for whatever reason, it’s always seven keys, three steps, or the one secret. You know, they used to say religion is the opium for the masses, but nowadays, it seems like self-help is the opium for the masses. And some of these celebrities are hooked on their own supply. A lot of what they’re saying may even contain a grain of truth. But they’re leaving out a whole lot of stuff.
If there’s a point to this week’s newsletter, it’s not to worry too much if you’re not where you want to be in life, especially when compared to others. Just have a cigar, you’re gonna go far, you’re gonna fly, you’re never gonna die, etc. etc.
Kind regards
Vincent J. Dancet