Wild Minds Weekly: Discomfort or Disconnect?

Hello beautiful people,

Before we jump in, I’m thrilled to say that our early bird spots for Wild Minds Premium are now full! I look forward to seeing you guys at the Q&A later.

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I was working in a bookshop-cafe last week, and a poster above the urinal reminded me of a book I read 2 years ago. This book taught me something that changed the way I saw the world. 

It taught me that the easiest way to control a population is by force, but the most effective way is through pleasure.

“Brave New World” is a story set in a society engineered for stability and ‘happiness’. A world where advanced technology has enabled the easy mass production of food, products, and people.

Where people are flooded with superficial pleasure and endless entertainment...

Where children are genetically bred, born and raised hatcheries without parents, hormonally conditioned, and socially indoctrinated...

Conditioned for what?

To hate nature.

To view relationships as casual and superficial.

To crave comfort, pleasure, and materialism above all else.

Should any citizen feel the slightest negative emotion, there was always Soma, a drug readily available and its consumption encouraged, to suppress fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction or any other negative emotion. 

If only we had something like that? (Oh wait, we do. It's served in restaturants and people think you're weird if you don't drink it)

The result? Disconnect.

Disconnect from their environment, and most importantly, from themselves.

Why?

To create consumers - always seeking the next, the newer, the more comfortable.

To create dependence.

“A love of nature keeps no factories busy.”

Seem familiar?

“Brave New World” was published 92 years ago - not sure what Aldous Huxley was on, but I'll have what he's having.

I spent most of my life chasing a comfortable lifestyle.

As a boy I hated playing outside, going in the sea if it was slightly cold, or anything that involved the slightest discomfort.

As a young adult, I would distract myself from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep - literally, I would fall asleep with a TV show playing on a screen a foot away from my face.

I went to Uni to get a high paying job so that I could buy expensive things and have a comfortable life.

I was a creature of comfort. 

But I didn’t feel alive, I was disconnected.

The book changed the way I view the world, technological progress, and what it means to be human.

The biggest realisation I took away from it was this:

Comfort is achieved through disconnect from the depth of experience. 

The comfort of a warm house is because you’ve disconnected from your cold environment. The comfort of alcohol disconnects you from any negative emotions you might have. The comfort of pharmaceutical drugs disconnects you from the unpleasant feeling of being ill.

You don’t have to be uncomfortable all the time. Enjoy the warmth of a fire, the cosiness of a warm home, or the pleasure of an indulgent meal. These are part of the human experience just as much as discomfort is.

After all, if you were constantly connected to the cold and wet environment in the UK, you would probably die. Being barefoot is great - until you step on some glass. The right amount of comfort can be hugely beneficial.

But what’s the sweet spot?

The right amount of comfort lies right at the edge between feeling the full depth of the experience, and long term damage. Cold plunges are invigorating, hypothermia is not.

Next time you feel uncomfortable and your instinct is to avoid it, pause and ask yourself, “What’s so bad about this?”. Most of the time you'll realise that the answer is "nothing".

Don't be stupid and go roast yourself in a sauna until you feel sick the rest of the day or anything like that (as a personal example).

You might still choose to disconnect from the experience with some form of comfort, if it’s especially useful to do so - but doing so consciously is a freedom in itself. 

Comfort is not a goal to be chased, but a tool to be used. You can either use it intentionally or it will be used to control you.

The society that is easiest to control is one made up of an army of slaves that love their servitude.

The idea that you don’t constantly need to be comfortable, and that you can just accept the full depth of an experience, is one that I found incredibly freeing.

Hopefully you do as well.

I'll end on this question, "In what ways does comfort control you?".

To your freedom and independence,

Rob

Wild Minds Community

PS.

We will open up some more spaces for Wild Minds Premium in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you want to take that first step to building your life of independence, check out The 12 Month Farm Method