Sean Äaberg

THE GOBLIN NEWSLETTER 08

Added 2024-06-30 23:33:28 +0000 UTC

I was writing about how society isn’t solid enough for me feel safe in doing the kinds of pranks that I’d like to do because most things already read as absurd. I like to confuse people, but it’s no fun when they’re already confused. I stopped expanding on that theme because I hadn’t explored the idea enough & me just being almost fifty might be the reason things seem so absurd. I’ve always been out of step with the times, intentionally. But in retrospect I was definitely quintessentially nineties. My three kids have thoroughly integrated into Gen Z as teenagers. I definitely didn’t come of age during this moment of smartphones, it wasn’t even the computer age yet. I’ve resisted the cultural trappings of the online world, even while simultaneously trying to keep up with the ways to use these machines to expand our influence. I’m sure there are lots of paths we’ve taken as a society that have been the wrong paths or Pandora’s Boxes that would have been better left shut, but I decided a long time ago, that for my own sanity I would accept the ride we’re on & do my best to adapt instead of hitting my head against a wall. There are just too many things that I think are wrong to object to. I’d be like a Mennonite, living like it was Germany in 1683 (or England in 1982) forever. The thing is, people keep being born, the story keeps going & things change. Part of the challenge is to discover what is eternal, what speaks to people now & maintain some kind of cohesion.