Writer's Diary
6/21/24
The other night I remarked on the fact of a mutual acquaintance having had plastic surgery, and S and our friend both were surprised—didn’t agree that the person had had plastic surgery. To me, it seemed obvious. But maybe plastic surgery has become ubiquitous that the chiseled-sculpted Instagram face is so universal that it now seems natural: more real than real faces.
When I have a compulsive thought or hear myself neurotically re-inscribing my compulsive thoughts on reality, I know that I'm killing something that has value. Beauty, play, creativity, faith, ecstasy—these things can't be commanded, can't be manipulated into existence.This is the essence of wisdom and it's also what makes wisdom so tricky. You can't turn around and look at anything good, it will dissolve into a pillar of salt.
The many social contagions that have passed through American life over the past ten years all have one thing in common. They deny that they're excessive. They do not acknowledge that there's any excess. They go further and further and further, all while insisting that they remain within the boundaries of common sense.