A couple weeks ago I was talking to a client about sounding like a meme. I didn’t mean this in a disrespectful way. I would have never said something like that, if I didn’t think she’d know exactly what I meant.
It used to be that (speech) fads might be regional and spread slowly. These days a particular phrase can be introduced into the collective and spread around the world in a week’s time.
Between this and the fact so many interact of social media…social media which controls what you see to a large extents, it’s pretty easy to deliver a concentrated message, or one side of a story.
It’s pretty well known that facebook manipulated users by manipulating the posts they see. Reddit has it’s shadowbanning. Twitter is also shadowbanning users now.
If that’s a new term to you, when a person is shadowbanned, they can post to their heart’s content…they will be the only one who can see their posts.
You see how easy it is to filter content so it appears that everyone is on one side. Next thing you know, legions of people are repeating fake-popular phrases they may not have given ten seconds of thought to. It’s like wearing faddish clothes, whether they suit your body or not. It’s about conforming.
If you’re living this way, you stand out to people who are not ,living this way. As an odd example, I was talking to a man I know about “Valley Girl” speak. “People still talk like that,” I said.
“I know,” he said.
“It was supposed to be a joke…”
“I know.”
Valley Girl Bae
Jupiter in Virgo is currently squaring Saturn in Sagittarius. This offers a chance for people to take back control of their mind.
Do ever hear yourself saying something, utterly unoriginal, just because you’ve heard it so many times?
This has become so pervasive, it’s really hard to find someone who wants to talk about an fresh, original, innovative idea. A person is expected nod and agree. Anything else challenges people and might take up their time. Their time they want to spend ingesting more crap.
Back to the client, I recommended she identify and eradicate all the memes in her psyche. It’s like a detox for the mind. Most all of us could use one.
Related – People Imitating Machines
Afterthought….everyone loved David Bowie, a true original. These same people conform bam-bam-bam, right down the line.
I don’t know if he’ll see this, but I also thought of nutsy (who’s been around this blog for years), and his crimson waves…he’s the only one who has those. Another original, free-thinker. 🙂
Maybe I had one of those opportunities yesterday, but it’s more like being a focused thinker and not a floating thinker. Out for a visit and lunch with a girlfriend I noticed how distracted she was by all the other people she knows. It didn’t dawn on me until this moment … one on one was too much for her today. She was used to the sound bites of social networking, or, since her work is so one on one, she was free wheeling with me at lunch. It surprised me. This blog is offering some clarity; a bit of reclamation.
Sound bites. Yes! Very well said.
Also, if you want to talk off the prescribed topic of the day or express something new, it irritates people. This is true, 80% of the time at this point.
Be “mindful” 🙂
Interesting, Last night while driving through Los Angeles, I was looking at all the advertising billboards… And thought “We are eating regurgitated ideas”. Not in a morose way, just wondering where the new sprouts will break through the concrete.
Yes, and they’re meant to manipulate, lead, mislead, intimidate…
It’s the opposite of an individual meeting another individual with an open mind.
I still think there are people out there…I know there are. But you’ve got to look for them.
I interact with someone these days…they make blanket statements a large group of people. The shadow is projected, basically. And as off-putting as this is, I accept it from them because otherwise, the person is willing to present their really interesting, intelligent ideas and opinions which spring from their own mind, based on their own experience. This as opposed to everything borrowed from *whoever* for *whatever reason* – in other words, “shallow”, “fake” and what not.
Also, if you’re going to put NO H8 on your face, you ought to not express H8 yourself, because when you do, you look like what we used to call a “flaming idiot”. 🙂
I love this! I was raised to question things. I don’t think I could be fake if I tried.
Today I read how 1/2 of Americans (politics) have no clue how to be happy. They are all unhappy and nothing can be done.
I have read the exact same about the other 1/2 of Americans (politics).
How ’bout some proof of this (from either side)?
Sometimes you have to shut up long enough to listen to yourself. And when you do, you see your brain’s gone out to lunch.
This is what is horrible about this…most horrible to me, and on topic for the consult.
If you have the current day (American) memes in your head, your chances of partnering successfully are nearly zero. Because it’s just not what’s being sold at this time.
So think about spending your life alone because you bought some bullshit, hook, link and sinker, back when you were 21? Or when you were 31 or 41 or wherever?
A meme is a meme. It does not have to be true to be a meme. “Viral” is right. Replicate like a virus and ultimately, it kills you. Slowly at first.
What is a meme? That’s the thing, I don’t even know what the word means I’m so old school:)
It’s a phrase that is used and used and used some more.
Check out one talking head after another with the same message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrbdayJpP4
A meme also may be presented as a graphic that has some image and some catch phrase or claim, that people cut and paste and retweet into oblivion.
This reminds me of some cat Stevens lyrics
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It’s hard.
But it’s harder to ignore it.”
Thats the stuff. Perfect, l love that lyric. Kinda says it all.
testing
Sorry it said I was logged in as *X* and I had to test it. No worries, it came up as me 🙂
Another side of this though is that sometimes people expect your opinions to be consistent, as in, if you think “x’ then you think “y” about this. Critical thinkers are not worried about consistency. You look at each thing individually and are free to think whatever you want about it.
When people think they are tripping you up on your “inconsistencies” (side note: go fuck yourself) I like to say, I am not a political figure and I am not a public figure, I don’t need to toe any lines.
It’s a question of rigidity, in my opinion.
Okay, good. I went looking to see if people were going into spam or something…no one is. 🙂
Good point kumquat! . This makes me think more about it. And this is what I came up with:
I think of my ideas as ever evolving. It’s dangerous to hold on too tightly to any opinion in my opinion:) You have to leave room for the possibility of learning something new. The truth is the truth but one perspective is not truth.
I’ve changed my perspective based on experience so many times now, I could never be a public figure! It also led me to a belief that there are shades of grey to most everything, and that I will never truly understand everything because there is always another perspective to see something from. At least that’s the Libra side of me. 🙂
Well that’s the thing. You really don’t know what’s in ANYONE’S heart, never mind, half the country…or everyone who does X or Y or votes for Z.
A lot of times people don’t know what is in their OWN heart. And it might be good to think about that instead of looking around for what seems popular and climbing on the bandwagon.
This is especially true NOW when there are so many forces geared to make you think certain things are popular when in reality, they are not.
It’s like saying it 100 or 1000 times makes it true. Not really. But you can sway the weak minded that way.
great comment, Kumquat
What an interesting comment Elsa! I really enjoy your no BS insights. I am definitely going to check my mental memes for cultural debris 😉
But please, elaborate. What is it that you feel is being conveyed as popular when it is anything but?
Sorry, I don’t feel like dealing with the fallout of asking that question. “I’m tapioca” as Lovely Rita, one of my faves at the Old Man’s Bar used to say.
Here’s why: What A Week
And if you want to be entertained, check the tag – Old Man’s Bar
Technical note, just so you know Elsa… Like Kumquat, I too have done the test post before because the system showed me as signed in as someone else, but when I posted, it posted as me. Some gremlin in WordPress I guess…
Is this true??? “Anything started during [the 10 days before and after the eclipses] will likely not pan out the way we thought it would, often because important information comes to light only after Eclipse season is over. If possible, defer any major new projects until after April 7th, when the Eclipses are over”. Please Elsa, advise on this. What if someone has a wedding planned? I am about to start volunteering at a soup kitchen. I’ve tried to find the right place to do this for almost a decade. I moved to a new town and thought I finally found the right place, and am really looking forward to it. My first day is March 10th. The New Moon on 3/8 is part of a massive stellium in my 12th H. I thought this was a good thing! But I just read the comment in quotes above from another astrologer, and now I need clarification. Should I wait and start my volunteer service in April?
I don’t think it is true. 🙂