Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I break my heart every time I compare myself. Yet I still do it. Maybe I like the heartache. It gives me something to write about. I know it's deeper than that though. 

We live in a capitalistic society that forces us to compare each other and to nitpick at each other and our own short comings. There’s a profit to be made by this. The comparisons highlight our insecurities and make them impossible to ignore and remind us of what we could be. Tangible things are sold to you to fix the intangible things in your soul that are deeper and cant be solved by some product. You are sold the idea that isolation is the best solution to this pain and to surround yourself with so many products that are only fleeting joys.

It begs the question: what are you without all those products? Who are you after all? When we don't have a strong sense of self, we only consume mindlessly, with appreciation or value for the real and beautiful things in our world.

Surround yourself with your community/people. Start letting that light in. Touch grass, as some say. Its genuinely good for you. We were not meant to be looking at a screen all day and reminded of the bullshit on a loop and start becoming so apathetic to the world and how we impact it. We were meant for way more than that. 

This is a gentle reminder for you to remember this: comparison is the thief of joy. Your joy is one of the most valuable and precious things you can have. It gives you hope. If comparison is the thief of joy, apathy and insecurity are the killers of joy. Apathy is a tool that has been used against us to turn us against our own communities and make us easier targets of capitalism’s vicious grip. Protect yourself with hope and self-assurance. The world needs you.

Soundtrack to these thoughts: 

life imitates life - quannnic

rage quit - bar italia

100 - Dean Blunt

Shane - Liz Phair

A Greater Love - Yves Tumor

Only when I’m Dreaming - Minnie Riperton

Only you - Portishead

Fifty-fifty clown - Cocteau twins