"Not Good Enough" has far more potential than "Good Enough" Part 1

I'm guilty of missing a couple journal entries. *Sigh* it was going so well before. Time to get back into the action. I said I would make an entry about this awhile ago, it seems especially relevant now since we've been talking about mastery and mediocrity. This topic will be spread over a few journal entries.

I wanted to talk about the environment we live in and how we are bombarded by mediocre influences. Things like media, entertainment and food choices. I also want to touch on more obvious influences, like friends, family and work.

Lets start with media. If there was a god of mediocrity it would be television. A modern opiate for the masses. Now when I say television is fantastically mediocre I'm not talking about the shows necessarily, I'm talking about the experience. What you are exposed to when you sit down to watch television for a few hours. There are many high quality shows out there but the problem is they are surrounded by a sea of crap. Familiar with the saying 1000 channels and nothing on? When you flick on the tele its 95% filler. You can thank televisions evil cohort Advertising for most of that filler. So why do so many people sit through stuff they don't actually enjoy?

Why do people willingly expose themselves to heavy doses of mediocrity? Because it's easy. The most dangerous part of mediocrity is its appeal. It lures you into its stagnancy with promises to never hurt you, trying to hide the fact that it won't ever help you. There are ways to enjoy shows and filter out the junk. The first barrier of the filter is you. You need the ability to recognize when you are not being exposed to something meaningful and you need the willingness to seek out something better when that time comes.

I do believe its healthy to have entertainment time, we can't always be productive. Why not make the most of your entertainment time by actually being selective? Might as well only expose yourself to high quality entertainment if you have the option. We now have the technology to help with this. Things like PVRs, Netflix, DVD's and the internet. If you have a show you enjoy, you can watch it without all that filler. Think of the time you can save!

This same thing can be said for music, books, video games and radio. Mediocrity sells. I don't think anyone can deny that. Often the most popular or best selling stuff out there is blatantly average. Some people will argue that this is an elitist. stuck up attitude but I don't think so. I think people just like to grab onto whats within reach. Why get up for good when you have ok right next to you? The thing about an excellent anything is: it isn't for everyone.  Something excellent has a chance to fail, sometimes it can be uncomfortable, its far more susceptible to taste, it can be hit or miss. But oh my when it hits it hits hard. Isn't it more fulfilling to traverse over mountains and valleys then to trudge endlessly over plains?

To be continued...

Sifu Jesse Wetter

http://liveforeverordieintheattempt.blogspot.ca/