I recently saw Jay Choyce Tibbitts say something along the lines of:
A designer has to appease:
The fashion industry
The press
The clientele
An uncomfortable truth is better than the sweetest lie!
I’ve been juggling whether nor not the truth is perceived as valuable, desirable, as the luxurious fantasies many of us blindly consume. The more I entertain the thought, I’m coming to the realization that a lot of truths simply no longer exist. Truths are forgotten, unrecognizable, unknown, due to avoidance, ignorance, or incuriosity. And as I’ve written to you previously, we value what we know. People don’t need to desire the truth, because whatever their limited consciousness believes to be true, thanks to the algorithm, they will find effortless and endless proof of it.
We show ourselves what we need to survive.
With the rise of technological advancements, social media, and artificial intelligence, we’ve been sold a false narrative of freedom. Freedom is everything that you’re not! Many don’t even define freedom for themselves, and they never had to, because they were told who they were, how they felt, what they thought, what they knew, where they lived, what they experienced, what they desired, and what they owned was not a reflection freedom. Not only were they told what freedom wasn’t, but they were shown what it is. We now live in a society where people have abandoned their minds, their hearts, their bodies, and each other for a life of convenience. As if, to know and love ourselves is tortuous, tedious work. Buying a new identity makes more sense, in fact, it’s more progressive.
We’ve been freed from ourselves. Oddly enough, we’re addicted to it, the detachment. The constant visibility. The once forbidden access. I mean, isn’t that why you’re here? To explore the very mysterious mind of mine? We see; therefore, we know, we normalize, and we are. We become. Or so we think. Because visibility is only limited access satisfying to the eyes. Visibility dictates our perception of self and others. It doesn’t shift the truth of our physical, tangible reality, in this very now moment in time. As soon as you take your eyes off the desirable illusion; you come to the awareness of who you are and who you’re not. Sometimes the truth is so painfully uncomfortable, you go from involuntarily consuming the lie to actively choosing it. We’ve become dependent upon, entitled to, what’s not ours.
The lack, loveless, mentality is so deeply embedded, with our most valuable currency we continue to buy into the illusion, we continue to buy into everyone’s business but our own. The more we pay with our attention, the more our life source energy can be regulated outside of us. But, we’re kind of into it, the act of spending, giving, exchanging our currencies of all kinds. We used to live in a time where people wanted to have luxury. Luxury wasn’t just a thing; it was an experience. An experience that triggered an emotion, which our brain then processed into a feeling, and then became a way of being. Value makes us feel. But, remember we’ve abandoned our minds, our hearts, and our bodies, so we can’t even comprehend the emotions of an experience. Today, people simply want the ability to buy. Consciously, spending is more satisfying than having. If you’re unable to emotionally connect, you cannot identify, label, nor recognize worth, so you’re willing to consume anything! Which is why, trends are coming and going faster than my eyes can blink and brands are getting away with constantly increasing the price but decreasing the quality.
To feel is to receive.
The consumer just won’t stop consuming. It’s mindlessly habitual. The work is in the processing. But, we don’t perceive ourselves free enough to govern our lives with an inner authority, courage, trust, and curiosity to do the inner work, because we’ve become a product of our environment. We’ve disowned ourselves. We’d rather project than look in the mirror. So, we seek the cure outside of ourselves, therefore we don’t learn to problem solve for ourselves. We’ve become so dependent on the lies that many don’t even have the language to articulate the self-hatred, the woundings, the needs to be responsible and accountable. Gradually, we’re losing our functions: mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially, and creatively.
Capitalism has always depended on the human body to make a profit, whether it be the health of our anatomy and physiology, or performative ritualistic nature. Theatrics were used to attract our attention. But, post-covid, a dance routine is cheap; it’s distractive. Can you validate the illusion? Don’t just distract me from the truth, reassure me the illusion is just as possible as the truth. Because then I won’t feel guilty when the time comes and I choose neither. If people can believe the lie is just as possible, accessible, and attainable as the truth, the concept of choice will cease to exist because there will be no options. What makes this life experience so desirable and agonizing is the options dualities create. You need discernment to choose. But to choose, to claim, to have, to own, requires maintenance, nurturance, and protection. It requires care. It requires responsibility. Being responsible isn’t very convenient for the consumer. Accountability demands too much of the self.
The fashion industry and designers are kind of synonymous to me at this point. The creators of evil vs the sellers of evil…who’s worse? Most designers start off with good intentions, but then you learn the capacity and availability responsibility requires. Responsibility is profitable. Responsibility is powerful. Responsibility is control. Control of the narrative. So, Jonathan Anderson is able to have ten thousand jobs and Chanel’s cosplay of the middle-class is deemed genius. Because consumers lack of responsibility, their forfeit of accountability, relinquishes their autonomy and choice. The press knows that, which is why they no longer question nor challenge the industry. As long as the narrative supports the vision, the people will buy into it. Whether it be financially, visually, energetically, conversationally, timely, it’s all a form of currency. The value is in the payout, not the product.
Siri, play: Eyes Wide Open by Gotye!