Make Your Damn Bed

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” James Baldwin"Whatever goes up must come down." And here we are, at the center of the arc, trapped in the gaudiest, most valuable, and most improbable water wheel the world has ever seen. Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise.” James Baldwin“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death — ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return. One must negotiate this as nobly as possible, for the sake of those who are coming after us. But white Americans do not believe in death, and this is why the darkness of my skin so intimidates them.” James Baldwin Baldwin's Book: The Fire Next TimeWikipedia for The Fire Next TimeAlok V. Menon Video "Death is the room"Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

You cannot imagine what it would be like to be dead, because death is an absence of existence. There is, literally, nothing to imagine – because nothingness itself cannot be imagined. There is no perspective, no view from nothingness, nothing to which it can be approximated. So that is the first recommendation: realise that being dead isn’t an experience. Death itself isn’t really a thing at all. In Epicurus’ words: ‘Death is nothing to us.’ - Sam Dresser Read the original Article on Psyche.co Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Read this today's original source, here."When you’re overwhelmed with information, you don’t think deeply about it; you have to process it very quickly. So, you tend to process it through existing biases, and that encourages people to form groups in tension with other groups." - Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart Nicholas CarrRead episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

If the internet is an AYCE buffet of unlimited, endless options, there’s bound to be items you find disgusting, that will make you physically ill. There’s also bound to be items you find delicious AND nourishing and can’t get enough of. But a majority of that buffet will be… fine. It will be mediocre filler foods that you don’t remember eating at all. You may even fill yourself up on the “just okay ” foods and not realize how much better of a meal it could’ve been if you’d been more patient or critical with filling your plate. Not to say that mindless consumption isn’t incredibly healing, sometimes.I just think it’s become normal not to think about anything we engage with, and that can be more toxic than medicinal.It is not all bad, it is not all good, but it is not neutral either. It is what I make of it. It is a reflection of how I engage with it.It, like any tool, can be used as a weapon if we’re not being conscious with how we wield it.This is why choosing to engage is such a powerful process.Deciding when it’s too much, setting boundaries, creating realistic expectations, and being careful with not letting the algorithm co-opt my agency; all these take conscious effort.The key is staying present and conscious as often as you can.Engaging with shit because you want to, because you make the conscious choice to, not simply because it’s there.I think a lot of us have become conditioned to believing “inconvenience is a barrier,” and in reality, on the other side of inconvenience is so much freedom and fulfillment.A healthy amount of resistance is what builds muscles, minds, and ideas. Friction is not the enemy.I think a healthy amount of well-placed friction is the only thing that keeps shit from sliding off the shelves and into a heap on the floor.We are constantly bombarded with shit trying to make us numb, sad, hopeless, defeated, so that we become so overwhelmed with the idea of any additional discomfort (even when it’s the good kind) becomes absolutely unbearable.The wealth-hoarding class wants us to be good little cattle who give over our time, data, energy, money, and peace without questioning.So every time we act with intention, we push back against the systems of manipulation, profiting off of our misery.Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

I accidentally ritualized something that is typically mundane, and that, in itself, is a magical and empowering act.Now, as much as I want to push society towards more “analog” and “slow” options because I genuinely think it would be good for us all to get off of these algorithms for good, it’s not the only way to opt into more conscious consumption.“Consciously consuming” as a ritual, instead of a burden, can be applied to almost any aspect of life.When I take a moment to consider the vibe I’m seeking, before engaging with anything, I find myself being more critical with what I engage with. I also find the process to be ultimately more fulfilling and rewarding.If you are addicted to social media or streaming, this may be a difficult transition, but you don’t have to change everything about your habits, right out of the gates.You can start with one intentional act a day. As a practice.Quickly, you’ll realize just how much time and energy you’ve spent digesting shit that you didn’t even enjoy. You’ll start to notice how unfulfilled you tend to feel after spending hours online with no sense of purpose, and how it doesn’t always have to feel that way.Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

"It feels good to look down on people until you realize that being above society is also being apart from it. It pulls you deeper into your own home, your own phone." - quoted from Lily Alexandre's Youtube Video.Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

How do we feel like we’re not being watched, when we are being watched?Studies show that citizens tolerate being surveilled, and eventually stop thinking about it. But we tend to act more docile + reliable after we forget. The camera makes you more docile. It makes you a better employee. But the camera has taken something from you. Your complex and unstable kinetic energy. Everyday it reanimates your body in predictable loops.” The first time I realized I was being surveilled without my knowing, was at my first job. Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop. The rumor was they’d sit at home and watch us at work, but I didn’t believe it. One day, I mopped the front when I received a phone call saying, “you only dipped the mop once, the dining room requires three dips for a proper cleaning.” Needless to say, 16 year old me was shook. I never mopped without doing it their way, again. I behaved differently on my shifts, from there on out. I feeling anxious and paranoid — but I’d completely forgotten about what caused it. I just thought, “this is what work feels like.” So it effectively shocked me into submission, with very little effort. The camera is a gun. It’s about power. And we all recognize what the power a camera holds. A video at our worst moment, can get you fired, arrested, or harassed. We cope with this reality in our own ways. We stop going out, we stop dancing, we stop interacting. We participate as viewers who critique and judge. Or we pick up the power ourselves, and turn the camera + surveillance and judgement to those around us. How has the surveillance state affected your behavior?Did you realize that the panopticon was affecting you at all?The only way we can learn to cope + navigate without losing ourselves or our humanity, is if we’re willing to face it head on. Watch Lily Alexandre's Youtube Video.Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Cameras "take" and "capture" reality, but even when we know it's manufactured, we tend to trust what we can see. Today, we talk about the historical and psychological implications of photography. Watch Lily Alexandre's Youtube Video. Read episode scripts on Julie's Medium Blog. SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. I

I have tried to be conscious of any of the personally imposed surveillance that I take part in.It’s futile, I’m sure, but: I opt out of everything I can possibly opt out of online. I talk shit to and about every Ring doorbell to anyone who will listen.I opt out of the biometric data collection at the TSA, despite some of the officers reminding me they have my data already. The point is, I like exercising my rights where the options still exist. Even if it is futile. And even if it is inconvenient for me, I’m not taking your online cookies. It deeply infuriates me that I’m not “allowed” to opt out of more. I can’t use my phone, camera, printer, or any other piece of tech without signing the terms and conditions that hold your item (and your family) hostage unless you give up the rights to your entire personhood in a written contract. But you spend three paychecks on these items and it feels like a simple click will get you there, so you sign away without reading a damned thing. Everything I buy feels like just another way for a company to get more access to more of my personal data. The merchandise or service they provide is so obviously an inconvenience to them, at this point. Data is king. And for many companies, your attention has become far more valuable than cash. The dollar may crash but the need for your unpaid labor and energy will never end!!!READ THE SCRIPT FROM TODAY'S EPISODE on Julie's Medium Blog.SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!)DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund AND THE Sudan Relief FundGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBESUBSCRIBE FOR BONUS CONTENT ON PATREON.The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. I