Living With This Question for a Week

“What do they want me to feel so that my wallet will open?”]

image courtesy of stock.adobe.com

Have you ever spent a week watching the media around you, and asking yourself, “What do they want me to feel so I’ll buy their product?”

It’s eye-opening.

Most of us know that algorithms ‘decide’ what to show us — on social media, on the news and tv shows we watch. That’s not evil. It’s just what is: they show us what we want, so we’ll buy the products associated with it. If we don’t shell out, they’ll show us how bad life is without it, and then, ka-ching! We buy it.

Money. Our language, our currency.

This past week, I watched the media through the lens of, “What do they want me to feel so my wallet will open?” A constant, jumpy, colorful series of reels showing me THIS! skin care line, this hand made journal, this book about a new wellness strategy, this device to help me track my sleep, food intake, hydration, steps —

Here’s what happened as I lived with the question.

This skin care line. (What do they want me to feel?) They want me to feel old, wrinkly, unattractive. I pause. I think — you know what? Of course I look older than I was thirty, that’s okay with me. I feel pretty good about myself. I mean good enough to know I…