Ever do something really stupid? Something you know isn’t good for you but you just can’t help yourself?
Well, that happened to me last night.
I stayed up until 2AM… for no reason whatsoever, despite the fact that I had a lot to do the next morning.
I was caught in a “dopamine loop.” I wasn’t getting any reward out of my behavior, but I was fixated on the next fix… even when I was consciously disgusted with myself.
Can you relate?
Anyway, now I’m writing on 4 hours of sleep, groggily trying to redeem myself by using this content for an email.
In this case, the main source of my “fix” was watching Sam Hyde videos.
Now, truth be told, I’m mixed on Sam Hyde.
Unquestionably he’s a talented artist, and I think he’s pushed post-irony (the current medium of “subversive humor”) farther than any other single individual. Some of his skits, weird as they may be, are hilarious.
On the other hand, Sam is an extremist. The memes of him being the latest shooter (notwithstanding the tragedy of these events) are funny and disturbing simultaneously… because I don’t think anybody would be surprised if he actually did it.
(he can’t keep getting away with it)
Ever since his show was cancelled, he’s fallen into a pit of anger, depression, and self-destruction he seems unable to get himself out of.
And the establishment is happy to kick him while he’s down. His Youtube channel’s been banned, just as he’s finally starting a new project.(Though to be fair, he provokes this censorship constantly. He lacks any risk-reward calculus).
Point is: Sam’s on the edge of being consumed by his shadow.
Anything’s possible.
Why does it matter?
Cause there’s a little bit of Sam Hyde in all of us.
A “Mr. Hyde” — if you will — to the Dr. Jekyll we put forward day-to-day.
And if we’re not careful, said monster will win.
Scary, no?
But there’s a silver lining.
You’re at most risk of falling when you’re blind to what your dark side is.
The greater the awareness, the more protection.
Which is why you should think about working with me.
I’ll help you see the parts of you that you don’t want to see the light.
Thus ensuring they don’t have to.
Sign up for a consultation here: www.patstedman.com/application
– Pat
