Mental Health Observations From Ted Lasso

Watching Ted Lasso, I noticed three types of people we need in life:

1. The Community. The community is the context we serve as an outlet to make sense of and apply our story. The community, throughout the three seasons, shapes and provides clarity and vision for Ted in the narrative arc. Even though we work through our junk, there are always people who need the gifts we possess.

2. The Coach Beards. Coach Beard’s are those trusted people we do life alongside. Frequently, these are close friends—people around whom we feel completely ourselves.

3. The Therapists. We should make sense of our stories with others who can connect the dots, whether they be guides, therapists, or shepherds. These individuals don't necessarily have to be literal therapists. While therapist-types might not be our close friends, they offer a different kind of care.

Tying each of these together is a mission. Ted didn’t interface with these three passively. A mission (for Ted, it was coaching), keeps the car of life’s purpose in motion.

ChatGPT: If 1984 Were Writen for Today

I found myself reading Orwell’s “1984” just before the pandemic hit in 2020. When it struck, imagination had quite the experience!

Out of curiosity, I gave ChatGPT this prompt: “Write a table of contents with ten titles and brief descriptions for George Orwell's 1984 if Orwell had written it today.”

Here is what it came up with:

Title: "2024: A Modern Orwellian Dystopia"

1. Introduction: The Surveillance State Redux

   • A brief overview of the omnipresent surveillance culture in a society dominated by advanced technology and government control.

2. The New Newspeak: Digital Discourse and Manipulation

   • Explore the manipulation of language in the digital age, where social media, memes, and algorithms shape public opinion and control the narrative.

3. Big Data Brother: The All-Seeing Algorithms

   • Delve into the role of artificial intelligence, algorithms, and data collection in monitoring and controlling citizens' thoughts, behaviors, and personal lives.

4. Social Credit Scores: The Currency of Obedience

   • Examine the concept of a social credit system, where citizens are ranked based on their conformity to societal norms, impacting their access to privileges and opportunities.

5. The Ministry of Truth Online: Rewriting History in Real-Time

   • Explore how online platforms are used to reshape historical narratives, control information, and manipulate public memory to suit the ruling ideology.

6. Doublethink in the Digital Age: Navigating Contradictory Realities

   • Investigate the psychological impact of living in a world where contradictory information coexists, requiring citizens to accept conflicting truths without question.

7. Thought Crimes 2.0: Policing Ideas in Cyberspace

   • Discuss the suppression of dissenting opinions, the consequences of challenging the status quo online, and the chilling effect on freedom of thought.

8. Proles and the Panopticon: The Illusion of Freedom

   • Analyze the role of the "proles" in a society dominated by digital surveillance, exploring whether true freedom exists for the majority or if it's merely an illusion.

9. Technology as a Tool of Oppression: The Dark Side of Progress

   • Investigate how technological advancements, intended to enhance human life, have become instruments of control and oppression in the hands of those in power.

10. Resistance in the Digital Underground: Can the Spirit of 1984 Survive?

    • Conclude with a discussion of contemporary resistance movements, exploring how individuals navigate the digital landscape to preserve autonomy, critical thinking, and the human spirit against overwhelming surveillance and control.

Stawberries vs. Pecans

Strawberry patches only take about one year to produce fruit.

Pecan trees are different. They take 20 or more years to yield mature pecans.

How might we view parenting with this metaphor? Are you viewing this task like raising strawberries or pecans? When are you expecting a parental return on investment?

If All the Bibles Went Away

If all the Bible’s went away, who in your life (not the internet!) would you follow around to remember what Jesus was like?

Perhaps we can all spend 2024 attached to someone like that and being someone like that.

How to Create Mic-Drop Culture

One way to get a “mic drop” culture is from “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” slogans.

30-Minute Practice

30-minute digital still life painting (2022).

One Reason You Might Not See Artists In Churches

One reason the church might not feel welcoming to many artists is this…

There appears to be a sacred Spotify playlist.

And only the leaders have access to it's curation.

Barabas Days

We live in Barabas days.

What are Barabas days? They are the times when we call good ‘evil’ and evil ‘good.’

The cure is the same as 2,000 years ago: a God who empties himself and His followers who do the same.