Are you finding it hard to function too?

“How are people participating in normal life right now?” asks @sadgirlhend, a creator who appeared on my FYP. Comments on her video revealed many weren’t. Myself included.

What even constitutes "normal" anymore? We've found ourselves immobilized in the recent past, unable to look away, so absorbed with what's happening elsewhere, alongside whatever we are witnessing right in front of us, in the present. I keep it vague because so much has transpired. I thought by now, I would have developed the skills to cope. But I haven't.

For the past three years, I've found myself actively fearful of what the world around me has become—an endless back-and-forth of environmental catastrophes followed by human rights disasters. It's an infinite scroll of actual doom. Alongside all of that, I've fallen mercy to new kinds of stimuli, bearing witness to the digital records of all the people in our lives, and observing how those in our orbits react in times of crisis (or don’t). A post for Palestine followed by a post for brunch.

I write this not to imply that each individual should become their own broadcast network, nor to cast aspersions on anyone who has managed the ability to live in the present. To be honest, I started writing this weeks ago but the idea of taking up any space felt like unnecessary noise. It still does. Every day, we bear witness to history being made; what sets these times apart is the nature of the artifacts being created. History is recording itself from every angle.

Last week, I was invited to speak on a panel about current marketing trends. Positioned as the futurist, I shared with the audience what drew me to the discipline. I dislike the future I'm being asked to participate in, and therefore, must find ways to rewrite it, in as many ways as we can.

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