when was the last time you felt?

when was the last time you felt something profound from any piece of media? a movie, a show, music, video game.. not just a feeling, a feeling. in this new day and age of abiding by algorithms and perpetual rotation of slop content designed to get attention of children and adults with deteriorated mental state. i find myself staring blankly at the youtube homepage looking for something new and seldom do i find such a thing, i turn to video games and movies but all i see are abominations of what once was. beloved franchises gutted, politicized, ruined by greed because in this age of unoriginality nothing is sacred, doing anything they can to get your last penny. there are diamond in the rough but the amount of deep diving you must do just to find something authentic anymore, it can be grueling, it's tiresome. but i guess after it's all said and done, it was worth it, right?

do you feel anymore? in this age of creativity being ravaged by algorithms where originality is dwindling, what's there left to feel that hasn't already been felt? have we been subconsciously conditioned to no longer feel? is this the erosion of the soul? it's quiet, a slow numbing of our deepest feelings, the feelings that make us human withering away. a subtle insidious conditioning chipping away at our humanity.

we've turned the loss in volatility of human life into a mere spectacle to post online for clicks, constant exposure to dramatic and horrible things online such extremes everywhere, fighting for our attention with a manic urgency. violence, shock, and appall, things once only seen in the midst of war can now be seen in the comfort of your own home. images so explicit and profane seen by children so young and as we take it all in, we find ourselves increasingly unmoved, feelings unfelt, we simply witness. death, depravity, the most horrid things unfolding before our eyes, without a shutter. almost anything you can dream is just a click away, and almost anything you'd find in your nightmares just a click away. the extraordinary is now mundane, our capacities to be moved, shocked, or feel deeply are slowly withering away.

the depths of our own hearts and souls become more and more unfamiliar to us, it can almost feel like navigating through the deep sea, submerged in dark uncharted waters where mere fragments of feelings can be found but soon even those will be withered away until we're more machine than human, even our interactions online unfolds so formulaically, the algorithms now control who can say what, and most people are afraid or outright punished for speaking their true unfiltered opinions. you will be silenced or forced into compliance, we're all slaves to the machine.

at the center of digital maelstrom lies social media, to imagine such a thing was originally designed to bring us together is now almost comical, as currently we feel more estrange to each other than ever before, it's a hassle to even attempt to find a genuine social interaction on social media. as i scroll i see nothing but fleeting moments idealized versions of life, carefully selected content and algorithm thought would grab my attention, genuine human connection replaced by likes, comments, and virtual validations. the capability of human connection is as advanced as it's ever been and in this highly advanced stage, we're more isolated than ever.

most people don't even know the names of their neighbors anymore, they can't hold a conversation or eye contact, too anxious to speak up for anything, and what once was just a normal daily social interaction is now the primary source for most people's stress and anxiety so i ask you again

when was the last time you felt anything?

and do you even know what it means to truly feel anything anymore, more than just tears or rage or brief moment of joy, i'm talking about almost indescribable feeling within the soul, the feeling that leaves a mark on your mind and heart, a feeling that can't be recreated that which birth nostalgia or something that may come to you during your last moment.