There's a Unicorn in my Drink, and a Nose in My Business 🦄
Ohhh, America. We are (were?) such an incredible nation, one of the youngest countries in the world. We've made great advancements in medicine, technology, and social equality (in progress). Simultaneously, we've made advancements in sugary drinks and my generation's desire to focus on instant gratification. To place a symbol on the latter idea, cue the Unicorn Drink from Starbuck's.
I find it hilarious how everyone has such a strong opinion on this Unicorn Drink. I have never seen more people thoroughly RESEARCH, pull out GRAPHS, and CHARTS, showing me ingredient lists and nutritional values, trying to get me to avoid consuming my childhood dreams in a damn cup. Let me live...
BUT HEY, you just spent 20-30 mins of your life researching a drink that no matter how much you try to tell your friend "its-just-sugar-in-a-cup" they're still going to get it because that's what they really want. A drink that is on special for only five days.
My question? WHY DON'T WE DO THIS WITH POLITICS AND SOCIAL REFORM AKA THINGS THAT LAST LONGER THAN A 5-DAY STARBUCK'S DRINK SPECIAL?
I think it's hilarious we turn into "educated scholars" when it comes to topics like this stupid drink, or Aaron Hernandez's death, or whatever event that really has no direct effect on your life. 🙄
So, why do we focus on these events that don't have any role in our life? Why do I religiously watch shows like "My Strange Addiction" or find myself driving to two different Starbuck's to get this damn Unicorn Drink? I am a strong believer that these "distractions" are there to make myself feel better about my own life. Give me a girl eating chalk and a Lisa Frank lookalike drink and I am back at 100% confidence.
Combine advancements in technology with the brain's path of constant progression (at least I hope) and you've got yourself a clusterf*ck of thoughts firing away at you daily. According to my girl Barb Schmidt (I found her after a simple Google search), she understands and elaborates on this idea. She's has about 30 years of experience as a spiritual teacher and developer. Maybe it's because I'm from California, but I'm a big believer in our spirituality
In her book, "The Practice: Simple Tools for Managing Stress, Finding Inner Peace, and Uncovering Happiness" (that title should/could be the title of my life), she explains how we are constantly listening to our mind's worries, stresses, planning, memories, and fantasies. Barb's book continues, "We look at the state of the world and all its problems, all our problems, and we question how we can happy with all that is going on."
Now, this post isn't supposed to be a downer, or negative-Nancy, it's just to bring attention to why/how we distract ourselves from more important matters. Matters that actually affect us on a daily basis. Barb explains further, "So we look for distractions, outward things, to make us feel better." Cue memes, TV shows, UNICORN DRINKS, whether that Instagram girl is actually having Drake's baby...the list is endless.
I think sometimes we feel like we are standing in front of an ocean of problems, then someone gave you a bendy straw and the world said, "Start drinking, kid." But we know we that's impossible, so we turn to things we can accomplish and control. We try to figure out why Aaron Hernandez did what we did, or food-shame our friends for trying something new. Things that are absolutely pointless to our lives, have no acts of progression on our well-being or success. They're just pointless topics to make me feel like I figured something out today. Like I accomplished something.
But don't be the hype man for a lost cause. Pull out your graphs, and charts, and nutritional values for things that actually matter. If I want to drink the unicorn drink, ask yourself first, "Does their decision affect my life?" If the answer is no, keep your mouth shut and find a more productive distraction for us all. Everything in moderation is pretty much the key in life. I always give my friend this dating advice analogy. You have a pantry full of chocolate. You have every right and the will to go ahead and divulge, eat all that chocolate...all those Reese's peanut butter cups are YOURS. So you do, you eat it all. And then you get the worst stomach ache you've ever had in your life. Every time you look at a freaking Reese's cup you want to kill a Keebler Elf (you're delusional at this point).
BUT if you moderate yourself, little by little, one Reese's cup at a time (maybe 4 or 5, but you're the one counting). And you love it. You love Reese's. You share them with your friends. You look forward to eating your Reese's. (And if you need to see where the dating advice comes in just replace "Reese's" with "boyfriend".) So back to reality (I can't stop guys...sup, Eminem?), distractions can be healthy, but giving your brain a break is a hellof a lot different than turning it off completely, or maybe you're just stuck on the TLC channel.
You see, I made a conscious decision to purchase this drink. It wasn't a direct reflection of myself as a person lacking interest in all things that make up our community/society/country. Because I also make conscious decisions to better myself and those around me, to help people who need it, to figure out why things are happening and try to find a solution for them. I wanted this damn drink, because its pretty. And I am distracted by pretty things. But I didn't let it consume my life.
Someone once told me, American's love to complain about the shit in the middle of the room, but no one picks up on the obvious solution: pick it up and throw it away, dumbass.
I'll be over here drinking my unicorn blood. I heard every time you buy one a unicorn dies so...
