In Transit

The mind spins upon itself with fractal possibilities, never quite landing upon the page to express itself. So is the challenge of writing a cohesive and comprehendable message to look back upon and for the masses if you so wish.

I feel a visceral connection to writing that is hard to quantify. Just as the neocortex of the brain is responsible for language and analytical/rational thought, the limbic part is responsible for the emotional response. Neither two side communicate directly with each other creating a dissonance in our ability to express our emotions on an intellectual level. Sure we may be able to put words to feelings but we cannot correctly explain decisions we make from an emotional level. This is why strongly believing in something is so hard to explain and rationalize.

I tend to stay on the surface of topics, never sinking too deep below the surface, always fluttering safely in the clouds. By doing this I am able to stay as broad as possible to feel smart but never get to specifics in the chance that I may make a mistake and feel like I look like an idiot. You'd think that staying as vague as possible would open you up to a wider audience but Pete Holmes assures that the opposite may in fact be true. By getting to the specificity you get to the really visceral moments that touch us on a personal level that you can't get from broader strokes. Not only creating a more vivid picture but connecting on an emotional level.

I mention Pete Holmes because I just started listening to his podcast You Made it Weird which is part of the nerdist.com network. As my podcast queue has slowly dwindled from listening at work I have been searching for something new that I personally connect with. There has been an explosion of content in the podcasting realm over the past few years in which a seeming tipping point has been achieved. I remember the first really popular podcast back in 2006 was the Ricky Gervais Show which really popularized the medium as a place to create compelling and original content. Since then the quality and quantity of shows has skyrocketed, making it difficult to curate the "best stuff".

We seem to be in a golden age of information but also an over saturation of information. Back in the day there were only the mediums of radio, television, and books which were centralized within their respective corporate gatekeepers, making it easier to know where to go for the "quality" stuff. Now check out internetlivestats and you'll see just how much accessible information is being created every second. It's pretty overwhelming. It takes more time to find what you're really looking for than to actually consume the information. No wonder were so stressed out for no good reason in this culture. It's time to take a break and let our brains recharge so we may parse again through the infinite universe of the hive mind at another time. Until then.

Aaron