The numbing curse of ‘excitement’ and ‘regurgitation’

Human effort can be divided in two types. One is spent getting excited and the other, getting comforted. These are exciting times (pun intended). Excitement is an attribute that comes along in our endeavour to achieve something of value. It is not of existential value in itself. Excitement in itself does not guarantee value. It is a function of how badly one wants something. The progress of civilisations has had an intensifying effect on both the need of excitement and the need of comfort. The pendulums of excitement and comfort are swinging higher and higher!

There is comfort in regurgitation and excitement in novelty. And we are doing more of both regurgitating and getting excited. Depending on the time and age you were born, one will have to face the then normal levels of excitement and comfort. As our existential security increased due to abundance of resources and knowledge, it would have been natural to assume that the anxiety around the need of comfort would decrease. But it doesn't seem so. Watching the same movies & photos again, sharing them and then watching them again are all types of regurgitation. We are seeing both, more of regurgitation and more of exploring novelty. Sometimes we even regurgitate in the garb of exploring the new (like going on a trek because one is supposed to).

There is a saying that goes: The one who has had salt ought to drink water. We are increasingly seeking more salt and longing more intensely for water, and we are making virtue of both. ‘More’ is a universal virtue today. And when we catch ourselves doing this we make a virtue of making it 'more' less. The real less would be getting less excited about both.

The amount of emotion we dish out per event is so inflated today. We are not surprised when someone says 'fantastic' when asked a simple question ‘how are you?’. Fantastic means an experience close to fantasy! Today that answer cannot be falser because contemporary reality has shown time and again that it can almost match the scope of our imagination.

Like any disproportionate association, dishing out excess emotions also causes nausea on one hand and a sub-conscious numbing of the sensibility on the other, especially when it becomes part of culture. Thank god, we don’t have to pay for the adjectives we use, else we would realize how much we overpay for every emotional transaction. Like the pandemic taught us the real meaning of 'essential', subtlety and awareness will teach us how to correct the intensity of our adjectives. And then probably the voices will get less shrill and more wholesome. And we will realize that excitement in itself is of no value (not unless we are addicted to it).

P.S. Surprisingly there are 2 hormones that are associated with these exact states excitement and comfort. Dopamine and Oxytocin. And I am sure the body does not have a bias to secrete them more.