Mesmerized

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or an absence from your life of Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs), the biggest of which are social and mainstream media (SMSM).

Last Saturday was the final day of the Church or Bike With Joe high holiday known as 12 Days to the Demise of the DFUs. It's a period of reflection amplified by a complete abstinence from SMSM. I'm curious to hear how it went for Church adherents who read this blog. Leave a comment below the post.

One reflection I had during the holiday was just how potently mesmerizing SMSM is on the average human mind exposed to the toxic stuff. My almost fortnight of abstinence from SMSM illustrated this quite vividly. Fasting from SMSM is one of the best and easiest things you can do for your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. I don't know how the technicians behind the SMSM algorithms did it, but they have found a way to almost completely MESMERIZE users of SMSM. The definition of MESMERIZE I am using here is the complete neutralization of higher brain functions, like reason, critical thinking, and executive locus of control, allowing the emotional lizard brain to take over the mind.

I know there are a lot of skeptics out there who will read the above and think it's some kind of insane conspiracy theory. Maybe it is. But there is a very easy and conclusive way to prove that: try abstaining from SMSM for one week and see what happens to your own mind. One of three things will happen. 1. Your mind will be liberated from the SMSM algos and your higher brain functions will actively and observably resume (my hypothesis). 2. #1 won't happen and you will (rightly) mock and ridicule my claim above (your hypothesis). 3. You will be unable to abstain from SMSM for one week because you are - by definition - addicted to and dependent on it (Reality). #3 is the most likely outcome of engaging in my challenge, because the algos are designed to make SMSM more addictive than heroin. And that's the moral of this story - SMSM is highly addictive and enslaves eyeballs to it [SOURCE]. The algos can basically input whatever information they want to into your receptive and addicted mind.

So, if you are able to overcome your enslavement to SMSM and abstain from it for one week, let us know which of the other two outcomes (#1 or #2 above) you experience, by leaving a comment below.

Take care!

Fin!

6 Days

Hi Readers.

Happy Monday! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action items for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). And if not, well...I still hope you are thriving.

Here it is...Day 7 of the 12 Days to the Demise of the DFUs, a high holiday of the Church of Bike With Joe (BWJ). 6 days to go...including today. It just so happens to be a Monday, even though the holiday does not necessarily correspond to a day of the week or even care.

The social and mainstream media (SMSM) fast proscribed by the Church and the holiday are going well. I have been reading audio books and listening to fiction and radio drama podcasts. Truth be told, even when the 12 Days are over, I will probably continue to fast from SMSM, because it's good for the soul to do so. The holiday is really just a first order catalyst for second order change, if you follow my meaning. No? OK, well, it's not important.

Today is a lighter Monday than a typical Monday. But not by much. My Mondays are, by design, usually pretty light. But I am still going to see a couple of marriage and family therapy clients. That's about half as many as I saw last Monday. No one nows why. But we like it!

Shortly, I'll take the dogs out for a quick "walky walk" (as they call it...or at least as they respond to it when I call it that). Then a thorough Peloton workout in the mid-afternoon. Tonight, Deborah and I are slated to go to her son's house for board games. That typically always ends up being more of a s**t show than anyone anticipated, but we do our part and put in the effort.

Fin.

7 Days

Hi Readers.

Happy Sunday! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action items for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). And if not, well...I still hope you are thriving.

Here it is...Day 6 of the 12 Days to the Demise of the DFUs, a high holiday of the Church of Bike With Joe (BWJ). So, we are about halfway through it. That could be a good thing or a bad thing or even a neutral thing, depending on your point of view and frame of reference. I'm quite enjoying it though, and so my point of view is that it is a good thing that it's still going. It will be a good thing when it ends too, provided the Cosmos sees fit to dish out some Karmic Justice in the DFUs. I have been quite enjoying the holiday's proscribed total fasting from social and Mainstream media (SMSM). While I have not idea what is happening in the greater world out there, the complete absence of the toxic SMSM from my life has significantly improved my mental, physical, and spiritual health and functioning. 

The plan for today is a simple one. I plan to exercise in the morning (ideally with Deborah), practice music all afternoon (honing songs for upcoming GUPPY EFFECT due gigs), and attend a film festival film with Deborah in the evening. Boom. Easy peasy.

Leave a comment and tell us how your nearly a fortnight of SMSM fasting is going. Or even if you have not been able to shake the SMSM addiction, let us know what are the obstacles. Maybe someone can help!

Fin.

SMSM Boycott Reminder

Hi Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you some happiness or wealth, whatever your preference. 

I interrupt the enjoyable and entertaining travelogue episodes of late to remind you all to consider the significant advantages of boycotting all social and mainstream media (SMSM). SMSM is toxic and destructive to your mental, physical, and spiritual well being. It literally makes you dumber, angrier, and unhappier when you consume it, and it has no significant return on investment for your happiness or wealth. In fact, it addicts you to grievance, which is a miserable existence.

Abstaining from SMSM makes you smarter and happier and less burdened by grievance. I cannot prove this to you by way of a simple blog post, such as this. But...you can literally prove it to yourself. Simply abstain from SMSM for a minimum of two weeks (ideally a month) and see the benefits for yourself. You will 1000% notice the positive improvements to all domains of your wellness. If abstaining from SMSM for that long scares you or fills you with anxiety, guess what? You are addicted to grievance.

Fin.

Bar Brawl

Hi Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you some JOY.

The last time I was in the Comments section of a social or mainstream media (SMSM) site, it reminded me of a brutal bench-clearing bar brawl. Everyone was just hurling verbal punches around. Nothing was accomplished. No growth was observed. And that's basically how SMSM is...one big useless brawl that just leaves everyone feeling exhausted and bruised. Boycott SMSM and save your mental, physical, and spiritual health.

In other news, today is my birthday. I am turning 19 years old...for the third time in my life.

Take care and stick it to The Man whenever possible!

Fin.

Social and Mainstream Media Fasting

Hi Readers! 

I hope this post finds you and brings you some joy.

Do you know what billionaires and Corporate America despise more than anything else? I'll tell you. It's NOT having you as a customer.

We need to start boycotting Corporate America and transition to a national General Strike for at least the next two years. It's a win-win. You save money and Corporate America loses money. Until Corporate America gets its s**t together, we need to strongly persuade it to do so with our dollars (or lack thereof).

Now, you may think this is a fool's errand and a futile task. However, I assure you that is not the point. This benefits you whether it harms Corporate America or not. That being said, it does not take much to have an impact on Corporate America's bottom line.

The quickest and most efficient way to expedite the General Strike is to break your addiction to social and mainstream media (SMSM) and quit using it. Corporate America's profits are significantly correlated with people's SMSM use. SMSM poisons you mind and soul, and destroys both your productivity and critical thinking ability, softening you to Corporate America's persuasive advertising messaging to consume more of their useless shite. SMSM makes you dumb, angry, and scared. It's literally worse than any drug in its destructive capacity and addictive qualities.

If you think that sounds far fetched, let's do a thought experiment. How difficult would it be for you to abstain from SMSM for a week? If you think it would be easy, I challenge you to try. Prove me wrong. "I can quit it any time" is not sufficient. Actually quit it. If you can't...that's addiction and exactly what Corporate America wants, just like the tobacco industry wanted smokers addicted to cigarettes before their diabolical plot was exposed by science.

If you need any further proof or persuasion that quitting SMSM is necessary for your well being, WATCH THIS.

Fin.

The Street

Hi Readers!

I hear tell that the word on the street is that the social and mainstream media (SMSM) news is pretty toxic, exhausting, and depressing right now. Sorry that happened! But I do have a question for you...why are you still allowing it into your life?

If you want to find some respite from the toxic grievance and vitriol - that is LITERALLY the bread and butter of SMSM - I have a suggestion. QUIT IT. It's not hard. Simply disconnect from your social media apps and don't access mainstream media. If that sounds difficult, what are the obstacles? If you do a decisional balance matrix on this, it is clear that the benefits of disenfranchising SMSM from your life far outweigh the disadvantages.

In our household, we have boycotted SMSM. We never consume it or engage with it. Instead, we listen to music, read books, watch movies and TV shows, exercise, enjoy each other's company, play with the dogs, go out to eat, socialize, complete various and sundry chores, and get a shite ton (aka, a metric pantload) of shite done. In summary, we are living our best life without SMSM in it. SMSM drains your joy and happiness and destroys your productivity. All in exchange for what?

Fact: You are not the customer of SMSM. You are the PRODUCT. The SMSM companies are selling YOUR EYES, BRAIN, and SOUL to advertisers. You are a commodity to them. The best thing you can do is fire them from your life. You have a lot more autonomy and self agency than SMSM companies want you to think you do. I can guarantee that without SMSM is your life, nothing bad will happen. It is not necessary for any domain of life. But a lot of good will start happening when you kick SMSM to the curb.

Alright, have a great day!

Fin.

Mental and Spiritual Detox

Hi Readers!

Happy Saturday. I cannot stress enough how mission critical it is to begin to disenfranchise social and mainstream media (SMSM) from your life, by avoiding it completely (if possible...and mostly, if not possible). Because of how toxic and divisive and misleading SMSM has become, you are actually more intelligent and happier when you AVOID it. It's a difficult paradigm to embrace - and the SMSM overlords know this well - because we used to live in a world where ignorance was frowned upon and we ridiculed those who did not educate themselves (now we glorify and celebrate the willfully dumb). But that was when SMSM was far less biased and far more independent of its overlords than it is today. Today's SMSM actually seriously damages critical thinking ability and biases you toward the preferred messaging of said overlords (via SMSM analog and digital algorithms). SMSM is now designed primarily to addict you to its toxic messaging and, not un-coincidentally, to allow toxic people to enter and poison your life (virtually).

But you have a lot of choice over this. You don't need to let them in. It may sound difficult to avoid SMSM, because the SMSM companies have spent billions on making it more addictive than heroin or nicotine. But you totally can. The withdrawals are only psychological. I can guarantee you that the absence of SMSM in your life will not do you an ounce (or even a gram) of harm. But it will do you a TON of good. If you went camping for a week and did not have any access to your digital devices and SMSM, you'd survive and return home completely fine. In fact, you'd return home better than fine, because of the disconnect and recharge you'd experienced on the trip. SMSM drains and poisons your soul. And it addicts you to it. You don't realize this until it's absent from your life. And so I urge you to consider going on a SMSM fast for a month to assess this for yourself. If the idea of going without SMSM for a month frightens or alarms you, I have news for you...that's ADDICTION! It's the exact same fear that drug addicts experience when they consider abstaining from their drugs. It's no coincidence that people who consume excessive SMSM refer to themselves as "news junkies." Think on that.

If you choose not to disenfranchise SMSM from your life, that's your choice, and you have my sympathies. Because it will eventually seriously and irreparably harm you, if it has not already. It's never too late to quit SMSM though, and once it has destroyed your life and relationships enough (just like a drug addict hitting rock bottom), you may see fit to free yourself from it. 

In conclusion, just do me one small solid...challenge yourself to quit SMSM for 30 days. I guarantee you will notice how much better your life is at the end of it. And if you believe you cannot abstain from SMSM for 30 days...what does that tell you about its addictiveness?

Fin.

The Fast

Hi Readers!

It's a week until Bad Karma Day! That's what I call Thanksgiving, because it is bad karma to eat innocent animals. I said what I said. Do with it what you will. Did you know turkeys enjoy music and will sometimes sing along with it [SOURCE]? Groovy.

I hope all of you are engaging in some social and mainstream media (SMSM) fasting. I typically engage in it starting around Halloween and continue it as far into the new year as I can. I'm aiming to fast from it for the entirety of 2025. Motivational speaker Tim Ferriss first alerted me to the strategy of SMSM fasting and its physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. Ferriss is wrong about quite a number of things, but also right about a few other things (just like average person!). One of the things he is right about is fasting from SMSM, which is toxic to mind, body, and soul. I would extrapolate his conclusion to ALL toxins. For example, junk food is toxic and should also be avoided. Toxic people are toxic and should also be avoided. Toxins drain your life energy. So identify them and disenfranchise them from your life. SMSM is one of them. It's not the easiest one to disenfranchise from your life, because SMSM is designed to be addictive [SOURCE]. But if you are able to free yourself from it, you will be glad you did.

I truly hope this blog post finds you. And if it does AND you benefit from it, please share it with someone else who could benefit from a little fasting from toxic SMSM.

A good day to you!

Fin.