A Writer to Resonate

Erik Rittenberry come write with us at Illumination

A few days ago, I was perusing Medium on my break like I usually do, when I found a story written on February 10 of this year that hit me hard.

It is written by Erik Rittenberry and is called The American Life is Killing You.

It starts off with a quote from Graham Hancock who seems to say we are a civilization that has forgotten what it is like to live. Unfortunately, there is no link, so I am not sure where it came from.

However, Hancock describes himself as an “unconventional thinker who raises controversial questions about humanity’s past”.

But my article isn’t about Hancock, and it certainly isn’t a criticism of the writer, Erik Rittenberry. In fact, just the opposite.

From the first paragraph on, I couldn’t stop thinking that Erik was writing about me, personally.

How does he know so much about me?

The article has over 14,000 claps and 140 comments. Many of the comments are in agreement with Erik and his writing. So, clearly, it wasn’t about just me.

In fact, I notice our own Chris Hedges 🦄 highlighted several parts.

The whole first section of the article describes in detail my life, and the lives of many others, down to the daily detail, the consumerism, the exhaustion, and the lack of truly living in this world.

The second half of the article is filled with more quotes from people like Charles Bukowski, Eric Fromm, Edward Bernays, and others. Again, without links, which disappoints me only because I wanted to know the context and source quickly, while I read the article.

But because the quotes and the article resonates so deeply with me, I will look them up later.

But in the second half of the article, Erik postulates that we are brainwashed by big corporations to believe that the American way of life demands we consume, work, and consume some more. It is a life where debt is a sign of status, and we work our lives to pay of that debt.

But it is also more complicated than that. Erik hits a nerve when he discusses the need to actually “live,” because so many of us are just existing.

One of my favorite parts of the article, below, speaks volumes to me, and the bolded part (I bolded it)is literally the antithesis of how I want to continue living my life.

We the people of the United States have been led far away from the vibrant American spirit of Emerson, Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. Instead of living poetic lives close to the earth with little possessions, we barricade ourselves behind drywall and plastic and sit in front of screens, constantly buying things we don’t need to impress assholes who are doing the same thing.

The thought of living like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, as well as my own favorite, Ansel Adams, thrills and excites me.

Erik says, in another of my favorite parts,

Decondition yourself from culture, quit suppressing your uniqueness, travel to places that frighten you a bit, learn to embrace silence and solitude a few times a week. And most importantly — you must awaken from your culturally-induced slumber and try to find simple joy among the sacred.

I particularly like the part I bolded above. It is my wish to live some of the rest of my life like Julia E Hubbel, and travel to mysterious places that are “risky” to not only learn more about our world, but to face the fear and knock it down and never let it get back up.

Another of Erik’s articles also resonates with me. Both of these are great reads. This one is called

For some reason, and don’t ask me to explain, Erik reminds me a little of Hunter S. Thompson. It’s not alcohol or drugs, which Thompson was partially known for, but more of the cavalier, “Gonzo” attitude and tone of some of Erik’s work.

Erik, thanks for the reminder that there is more to life than how most of us are living. There is so much more to this world that needs to be experienced to be believed.

I’m ready.

I can be contacted at [email protected]. Please feel free to comment. I happily respond, eventually, to all comments and enjoy knowing your thoughts.