State of Mind · 12:00pm Mar 15th, 2019

Do people actually care about the state of mind about someone else?

Think about it for a moment. How often do you stop to think “Hey! I wonder what the state of mind of that person is.” Do you do it for strangers? Only if something about them has interested you in some way. Family or friends? If the situation or mood demands it of you.

And I don't mean checking in because not doing so would cause you guilt. We're talking about self-interest, folks. You could say avoiding guilt pertains to our self-interest. But I am relying on the second word.

Stuff that is interesting to us.

So when some asshole online starts talking about his state of mine, why would anyone give a shit? The reason we don't have a self-interest in others' state of mind is that we're too busy dealing with our state of mind.

There must be something it offers. We don't care about what random user X has to say. Even the good can't care about the state of mind of everyone—it'd overwhelm and cause them to shut down. We have to be selective about people we care about. And that's where self-interest comes it.

Why can some people give a rant to the roar and cheer to a crowd, and some do the bored nod of a co-worker eyeing the distant clock? That's because no one likes a tangent unless it's funny.

Chances are, what you say is not interesting or funny, most will not care.

We do not care for the state of mind for most people. Those near us is because we can feel useful, or be able to express something useful to us, or the vain feeling of being helpful. It's having a personal effect on the 'world' that draws are self-interest to inquire.

Online people, however, we are interested in different reasons. These people are either dead, have fucked off, too famous, busy, or uninterested in what you have to say. Most of the time there is no personal involvement. It does not matter if you choose to read about their state of mind or not.

But you do, and just like that—PFFT! Personal involvement vanishes.

We read about these peoples state of mind because they are of interest. Writers, artists, comics and actors. Weight lifters and porn stars talking about their lack of inspiration as of late.

There you are! Two different kinds of people—though both do heavy lifting—now have something in common. A universal theme. Is that what ties us together? To read about someone else dealing with a them that we're dealing with that then makes us feel something in response to that theme?

Then we read not because we care for that person's state of mind, but rather, because of the theme they write about. It's something we've dealt with. Those other states of minds didn't hit on a theme universal, and thus, we didn't care?

Instead of writing about some project being rejected, you then talk about your feelings of failure? Real quick, I gotta ask: what's the best way to go about that? Do you just tell and express your feelings? Or do you write a scene or sequence that will evoke that feeling and idea in the readers?

Let me pull this back an inch.

For a state of mind to be of interest to someone's self, then we have to a state of mind that is interesting, right? Well, state of mind is telling everyone what the state of your mind is. If all is good, then you talk about how good life is, perhaps picking people up?

But let's be honest. If you have a peaceful state of mind, then chances are, you don't need to express yourself. State of the mind—at least in this context—implies something is awry. You must express this state for a problem to be expressed and, by it being expressed to your conscious self, there is a chance you find or create an answer.

Now, how interesting is that? You've got your conflict, the state affecting your mind. You've got your process, writing the problem out. And you've got your resolution, the conclusion you draw from writing out your state—and the answers that may follow from others.

So it's almost like watching a story or a logical sequence. People would maybe care about someone's state of mind because it's like watching a process. That process itself is interesting to watch unfold.

All of this, is now to say, is that for others to care, or take interest in you.

You have to make your thoughts and your feelings interesting.

If you don't, your state of mind will be boring to read.

Why do I write this at 7:43 AM? Because I got rid of more of half the stuff I own, went from reading my work to enjoying it, then to thinking I'm a shit writer who should give up, back to thinking I'm good, then hating it all again, and then reading another story of mine, thinking it good, and wondering if it's because I outlined it or if because I discovery wrote it—and by doing one over the other if I can keep being the good I thought in a biased moment.

Life is an absurd thing.

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