Joy Is the Currency of the Privileged
The happiness industry is holding us back
Joy is the magical boot-strap to your American Dream. Anyone can achieve it, you just have to pull yourself up and hustle harder.
You’ve got this babe.
Joy is circulated as a panacea. Its promise gives false agency to the masses as it neuters their dreams. It’s the pacifier of mediocrity.
Even worse, it’s the mechanism for maintaining the status quo.
Don’t change a thing
In its infinite wicked ways, capitalism seizes on the happiness trade — the perfect currency to entrap the masses.
We all want it, we can never have enough of it, and its supply is ever fleeting.
It’s just a click, a post, an intention away. Its soooo close, and it can be yours. It’s a dream that maintains itself.
Can you feel the rush?
What was once the overt peddling of megachurches and big brands, is now advertised by the consumers themselves across insta-feeds, print-on-demand tote bags, and tastefully tattooed blemish-free skin.
You got this babe
Just.
Hustle harder
Just.
Be authentic
These are snappy mantras if you have a safe place to fall, and an easy comfort when failure’s last stop is a bad ego trip.
Don’t worry if you have uncomfortable feelings, a gratitude journal can help you turn those sour grapes into a beautifully composed image. #grateful
Have it your way™
Dove™ soap, insta-influencers, the gold-foil office supplies at Target™ — they all want you to know: YOU are in control of you — accept yourself as you are and be grateful for how things are.
Never mind that telling yourself to accept things as they are, when you know things are NOT ok, makes you LESS happy.
Never mind income inequality, voter suppression, and that curtesy text letting you know your account has just dropped below $25.
But don’t worry
Just.
Be more present
Just.
Don’t let the bad thoughts in
Just.
Make. Better. Choices.
Be your own hero
Sure you’ve got less than $25, an empty metro card, joint custody, and elderly parents, but there’s always something to be grateful for. So what if there’s an eight-year waiting list for affordable housing in New York City. You can always move somewhere else.
It just is what it is.
No one’s forcing you to live there. If you can’t pay for it then shouldn’t you just give it to the rich? They deserve it, after all, they’ve worked so hard for it. And now that we’re being really, real … it’s kinda unfair of you to tread on their well maintained, crime-free manifest destiny. They deserve it.
Have you tried meditation?
I hear it’s great for relieving stress.
Yeah, this was your neighborhood, but look on the bright side — think of all the new people you’ll meet. You might even find you have a lot in common with them — that wouldn’t be bad, would it? You just have to find your tribe is all.
Turn that frown upside-down — happiness can be yours… as long as you accept how things are, and play by the rules.
References
Gordon, Amie M. “Gratitude: 4 Don’ts of Gratitude.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201307/gratitude-4-don-ts-gratitude.
Herbert, Wray. “‘I Am a Lovable Person.” ‘Not.”.” Association for Psychological Science: We’re Only Human — “I Am a Lovable Person.” “Not.”, www.psychologicalscience.org/onlyhuman/2009/07/i-am-lovable-person-not.cfm.
Hovde, Elizabeth. “Elizabeth Hovde: Burger King Needs to Find Another Way.” Oregonlive.com, Oregonlive.com, 31 May 2014, www.oregonlive.com/hovde/2014/05/elizabeth_hovde_burger_king_ne.html.
Morgan Mitchell. “Here’s How Positive Thinking Can Be Bad for Your Health.” Newsweek, 20 Sept. 2016, www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/positive-thinking-myth-498447.html.
“New York City Housing Authority, New York City, New York.” Affordable Housing Online, affordablehousingonline.com/housing-authority/New-York/New-York-City-Housing-Authority/NY005#1.
Price, Catherine. “Trapped — the Secret Ways Social Media Is Built to Be Addictive (and What You Can Do to Fight Back).” BBC Science Focus Magazine, 21 Feb. 2019, www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/trapped-the-secret-ways-social-media-is-built-to-be-addictive-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back/.
Servon, Lisa J., and Lisa J. Servon. “The High Cost, for the Poor, of Using a Bank.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-high-cost-for-the-poor-of-using-a-bank.
Wood, Joanne V., et al. “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others — Joanne V. Wood, W.Q. Elaine Perunovic, John W. Lee, 2009.” SAGE Journals, 1 July 2009, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467–9280.2009.02370.x.
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