Another Monday reflection
I did this same style a few weeks ago where i went for a hike, listened to a banger podcast and then had a bunch of long winded reflective thoughts post listen. This week was an interview with a Simon Sinek a relationship expert who dives into the different things we do as humans that harm the way we view and see friendships. As someone who has had a variety of friendships begin and end, or remain healthy and then combust, this type of conversation was super interesting to me because in many of the topics they discussed I found myself thinking, “thats me”. On a deeper level, the whole conversation revolved around this idea imperfection and the question of humanness.
As a graphic design student and someone who enjoys finding decor, new clothes, dishes and unique pieces, I have always had a pull towards the things that silently tell the story of its creation. Looking at a mug sold at target vs a handmade mug from a friend who later donated it to a thrift store and then you spotted, is way more appealing. When you can see the love that went into a product, the imperfections and flaws, inanimate objects start to feel more alive. This podcasat was talking about this same idea, how in our modern day in age where we can ask Chatgpt how to say the right thing in an argument or ask AI to write a speech we have to give at a friend’s wedding. He asks this question, is it better to have the perfect thing, or is it better to have the imperfections?? As beings who are imperfect we want to see those flaws and sloppy styles more than we want perfection, it is unnatural and unachievable, so why is the new standard perfection? All of my favorite things highlight imperfections. The love story in the Notebook is so perfect because they don’t have the perfect thing to say, instead they run around yelling and arguing in this sloppy manner, falling in love, walking away and then coming back together. If Harry and Sally always said the right thing, then we would have never gotten to that final profound line “when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” If they said what Chatgpt would have recommended, the probably wouldn’t have been friends for 12 years, maybe 3 years and then it would have fizzled out. Yet now, we are expected to have the perfect response to a person on a dating app, the best responses to interview questions, good fashions, put together lifestyles and algorithmic life. How horrible.
This is a completely hypocritical wavelength of thoughts to have as someone who uses AI daily, but i think it is these types of conversations that keep me refreshed and fueled to turn away from AI in these more human moments. As a species who loves shortcuts and efficiency, it is easy to walk in the way of the robot, to have your autopilot on and creativity off. But I would really like to be someone who wakes up everyday and try’s to be imperfect. I want to fail things, to have embarrassment and emotions so that i don’t lose the ability to feel. At one point in this podcast, Simon was saying that he had a conversation with a girl who will always count how long her hugs with her boyfriend so that she can get the oxytocin hit that comes after 20 seconds. Simon later hugged her and asked if she was counting. He said, stop counting and just let yourself feel, your body will know when you reach that moment of oxytocin. HOW REFRESHING. My goodness, do we really need to be reminded to feel. I guess so, because hearing this made me cry on my hike today. When was the last time I had a good twenty second hug. They talked about the disney land rule, that every worker at disney has to hug kids until they let go. We know, we feel and yet we still forget.
