Why You Buy And Consume Junk

If a world class photographer buys a camera,

He does not go to the nickel and dime store.

For he realizes

That if he pays a nickel and a dime

Or if he goes to the nickel and dime store,

They do not have the camera

That befits him.

 

For he is not interested in taking a few snapshots

Of flowers and smiling faces

That he will hang at a tilted angle

Above the dining room table.

 

He is as particular

And precise

And meticulous

And careful

In choosing the camera he buys,

As he is in the execution of his craft.

 

After years of investigation

And experience

And trial and error,

He has likely found ONE particular camera

From ONE particular supplier.

Whatever it costs, it costs.

And he will never deviate from this camera

Or supplier.

 

For he simply cannot risk

Or compromise

The sanctity of his art.

 

This is the way it is

With any man

Who is the Elite of the Elite.

 

For their care and devotion

And exquisite attention to detail

Cannot be trusted to just anything

Or just anyone.

 

What is most astonishing about man

Is that he is willing to entrust not only his craft

Or equipment to anyone or anything,

But actually his very LIFE

To anyone or anything.

 

Why would a man

Place his LIFE

In the hands of cheap theories

Magazine clippings

Popular quotes

Self-help cliches

And spiritual jargon?

 

Why would he buy

And consume . . .

Junk?

 

The answer is simple.

 

He would buy and consume junk

For the same reason

That a casual photographer

Would buy a camera

For nickels and dimes.

 

The casual photographer

Has no interest in being world class.

His work is cheap

And of low quality.

Thus,

He buys and consumes

That which is cheap

And of low quality.

 

For a man to be a casual photographer

Does not cause him harm.

For it is not his interest to be world class.

Thus, he is fine with junk.

 

But every man lives a Life.

And is there any man in the world

Who intentionally seeks

A junk Life?

 

Thus,

There is no such thing

As a “casual Live-er.”

 

Each man

Seeks to be a World Class Live-er.

 

Whether in the form of happiness

Or freedom

Or success

Or wisdom

Or whatever it may be.

 

But the reason

That he buys and consumes junk

Is because that is what he thinks of his Life.

 

And that

Is what he thinks of Himself.

 

This is why

He nickels and dime’s.

 

This is why

He consumes self-help

And spirituality.

 

This is why

He is neither particular

Nor precise

Nor meticulous

In what he buys

And consumes.

 

He can sit and chant

And meditate

And mindfulness

And self-improve

And stoicize

His life away.

 

No results?

No problem.

 

After all,

He considers his life useless.

And it is for this reason

That “practice” without getting anywhere

Is acceptable to him.

 

He welcomes failure.

And courts struggle.

Because this is the regard

That he has for himself.

 

After all,

“Failure” is the new meme in society.

Fail, fail, and fail again.

Hooray for failure.

How exhilarating.

 

A man who thinks of himself as garbage

Will buy and consume . . .

Garbage.

 

A man who consumes the bumper sticker slogans,

Considers his life

To be worth

A soiled bumper.

 

The point is not that he should change.

There is no need for him to change.

 

There is no need for him

To have self-respect.

 

There is no need

To have greater value for his Life.

 

There is no need

To improve the way he thinks of himself.

 

There is no need

For him to stop nickel and dime’ing.

 

This is simply why he does

What he does.

 

Namaste.