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“Attempt to not be successful, however fairly to be of worth.” ~Albert Einstein, tailored
I usually really feel like I used to be born into the unsuitable story.
I grew up in a time when success meant one thing quieter. My father was a public college music instructor. We didn’t have a lot, however there was a dignity in how he carried himself. He believed in doing good work—not for recognition or wealth, however as a result of it mattered.
That perception formed me. I grew to become a instructor, filmmaker, and musician. And for many years, I’ve adopted an analogous path: one rooted in that means, not cash.
However someplace alongside the best way, the story modified.
Throughout me—particularly in locations like Los Angeles, the place I’ve lived and labored—I see folks operating. Hustling. Branding. Monetizing. It’s not sufficient to be good anymore. You need to be seen. Promoted. Scaled. Life itself has grow to be one thing to market.
And in that shift, I’ve felt one thing sacred go lacking.
The False Promise
I’m not in opposition to success. I need to have the ability to pay my payments, help my household, and really feel valued. However the model of success we’re fed—fame, visibility, infinite productiveness—is a lie. It guarantees that means however usually delivers vacancy.
We’ve changed presence with efficiency. Care with clicks. Integrity with optimization. And the consequence? A society the place exhaustion is regular and sufficient is rarely sufficient.
Psychologists name it extrinsic motivation—doing one thing for a reward, like cash or applause. It’s not inherently dangerous. However when it dominates our lives, we lose contact with intrinsic motivation: the enjoyment of doing one thing simply because it issues to us.
When all the things turns into a transaction, even pleasure begins to really feel like a product.
The Shortage Recreation
Generally I really feel like we’re all scrambling for crumbs. Competing for consideration, shoppers, gigs, or algorithms. Everybody attempting to outlive, to be seen, to matter.
It’s primal—like a twisted model of the hunter-gatherer intuition. However the place historical people balanced competitors with group, we’ve stored the combat and misplaced the tribe.
Now, even collaboration usually feels strategic—a way to climb, to not join. “Networking” replaces friendship. “Partnerships” grow to be efficiency. We’re advised to “collaborate” so we are able to get forward—not as a result of it nourishes our souls.
That shortage mindset doesn’t simply form how we work. It distorts how we see ourselves. If another person is prospering, we really feel like we’re falling behind. If we’re not being seen, we begin to doubt our value.
This isn’t simply economics. It’s non secular erosion.
Capitalism and What It Forgot
I’ve been fascinated about capitalism—not as a political slogan, however as a cultural story. Adam Smith imagined markets constructed on freedom and mutual profit. However right this moment’s model usually rewards extraction over contribution, efficiency over presence, and particular person acquire over shared good.
Even training and healthcare—issues meant to uplift—are judged by effectivity, development, and return on funding. I’ve seen faculties reduce arts packages within the identify of knowledge. I’ve watched care grow to be content material.
And I’ve felt it in myself—this stress to show my worth with numbers, even when probably the most significant issues I do can’t be measured.
One other Method of Residing
I’ve hung out filming in distant indigenous communities within the southern Philippines, the place life strikes at a distinct tempo. There, folks didn’t ask find out how to monetize their objective. They lived it. Storytelling was educating. Planting was prayer. Caring for elders wasn’t a chore—it was an honor.
No person was branding themselves.
However even in these locations, that lifestyle is vanishing. World markets, smartphones, and social media have arrived. The youthful technology is pulled towards fashionable success. And who can blame them? Visibility guarantees energy. However what’s quietly misplaced is the rootedness of belonging.
And it’s not simply them. It’s all of us.
Do We Must Disappear?
Generally folks say, “If you happen to don’t just like the rat race, go stay in a monastery.”
However I don’t need to disappear. I like music, dialog, cities, educating. I need to stay on this planet—not retreat from it.
So the actual query turns into: Can we stay meaningfully inside this world, with out being consumed by it?
I consider we are able to. Actually, I believe we should.
There are folks all over the place doing quiet, very important work: academics who by no means go viral, gardeners who share meals, coders who write open-source instruments, volunteers who present up with out posting about it. They aren’t trending—however they’re tending to one thing actual.
Selecting What’s Actual
I don’t have a method. I nonetheless fear about cash. I nonetheless marvel if what I do issues. However I preserve coming again to this:
I’d fairly make one thing sincere that reaches ten folks than faux one thing that reaches ten thousand.
I’d fairly be current than polished. I’d fairly care than compete.
If you happen to really feel this too—this ache, this fatigue, this quiet grief that one thing important is being misplaced—you’re not alone.
And also you’re not damaged. It’s possible you’ll be one of many ones who remembers.
Remembers what it feels wish to pay attention deeply. To present with out scoring factors. To stay from the within out, not the skin in.
That remembering isn’t weak spot. It’s your compass. And even in a monetized world, it nonetheless factors you dwelling.
The Fact Beneath the Lie
Right here’s what I’ve discovered: Success, as we’re taught to outline it, is a transferring goal. You’ll be able to chase it for many years and nonetheless really feel empty.
However that means—actual, soul-deep that means—is one thing we are able to return to at any second. It’s in how we love. How we present up. How we make others really feel. It’s within the work we do when nobody is watching.
We could not be capable to change the entire system. However we are able to inform a more true story.
One the place worth isn’t based mostly on efficiency. One the place success isn’t a end line. One the place we belong—not as a result of we’re spectacular, however as a result of we’re human.
That story continues to be doable. And it’s value telling.
About Tony CollinsTony Collins is a documentary filmmaker, educator, and author whose work explores creativity, caregiving, and private development. He’s the writer of: Home windows to the Sea—a transferring assortment of essays on love, loss, and presence. Inventive Scholarship—a information for educators and artists rethinking how artistic work is valued. Tony writes to replicate on what issues—and to assist others really feel much less alone.
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