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A few days after I had a major haircut I saw my mate Liz. “It’s giving!” they said, and seeing the look on my face, assured me this was a huge compliment. I may wrangle the alphabet for my bread and butter, but when it comes to being up with pop culture and the phrases peddled by it I’m a bit of an old man yelling at clouds.
I have a bone to pick. Sometimes hip linguology can have a certain eau de gaslight, and language seems to play an intentional part in the The Emperor’s New Clothes dystopian runway show. Rotting in bed (or as we used to say, resting) is having a big cultural moment. Tastefully disguised advertisements about The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Side Hustles (or workloads taken on in addition to full time jobs necessitated by the cost of living crisis) pepper our social media feeds. They may have very nice fonts and colourways, but these concepts stink.
I saw an article the other day about rising temperatures caused by climate catastrophe. Not only is the world on fire, but the heat is negatively impacting mental health and increasing suicidality. The blame finger is being pointed at generations deemed to be snowflakes, while those very generations are dismayed to discover the prior ones took a “she’ll be right!” attitude. Also known as the good old stick your fingers in your ears and la la la til the sweet embrace of death makes it not your problem. Now that’s rotting!
I like to watch my stories while reckoning with ongoing cognitive and physical agonies. It feels less lonely to have company without needs in the form of a streaming service. Time moves slowly when you’re waiting for your nervous system and connective tissue to regenerate its Super Mario hearts.
Last week Gogglebox wafted into my rest/rot sesh. Gogglebox Australia enters its 21st season this year and is often described by fans as something that should by all rights be boring, but isn’t. Viewers observe different households parked in front of the telly like peeping Toms. We enjoy slick production from the comfort of our own butt-shaped couch or bed grooves rather than concealing ourselves in the bushes like perverts.
Gogglebox is a sisyphean serpent, watching telly about watching telly, absorbing perspectives from a spoon fed directly into our slack jaws. Do we agree? Can we be bothered having an opinion? I guess it depends which way the wind is blowing and what is more generative for each person.
It’s eyebrow raisingly curious to note the attitudinal differences between two entities here.
Compare the pair: there’s the commodification of lifestyle entertainment, then the notion that time spent in unproductive states - particularly as a disabled person - is rotting or lazy. Regaining capacity or function takes quite a lot of energy, which is why so many of us feel like absolute garbage during our rest times.
Popular culture does what it says on the packet - it observes and dictates how the majority feel in order to make money through viable industry. Wealth generation is viewed as productive and the opposite of rotting. I’d hazard a guess that the uneven distribution of wealth, rights and safety (in healthcare and housing, especially) would not be defined as “giving”. It isn’t generative and the ecosystem doesn’t make sense. Rest is often only possible when there’s no option other than stopping. We are brought to a halt by overwhelm, burnout and illness.
I’m not saying we should be learning Latin or mastering the culinary skill of a flawless fluffy souffle in our downtime.
What I’d love to see is a more balanced reflection of the deep existential exhaustion that plagues us all. That needing rest and positive ways to fill our cups is not weakness.
We are deep in climate catastrophe, genocide and the monumental failing of the NDIS which has devolved into yet another witch hunt insurance machine.
Let me paint you a picture. A government that takes their time to ensure disabled people will have ample assistance to participate in our community, be more independent and improve our quality of life. They plan ahead, have contingencies in place to ensure longevity of the scheme and treat everyone who participates respectfully as a human being. This was the initial plan for the NDIS, but what’s happening now seems to be one lazy cost cutting measure after another.
Countless members of our community are having planning meetings via phone call without prior warning where our funding is slashed. Previously approved disabilities are being removed from plans, meaning we can no longer access support for anything related to them. When raising concerns about the punitive nature of the conversations, it’s clearly communicated that we have more to lose, and to tread carefully. It seems to me like a targeted, sustained, lazy way of fixing something that wasn’t established correctly.
For ecosystems to thrive, for humanity to have an even playing field, we need to nurture the soil with water, sun, air and food. This takes time and resources. Any gardener worth their fertiliser will tell you that the more you feed your soil, the more it will feed you.
Rest time for people with energy limiting disability often involves the consumption of the entertainment equivalent of a packet of Twisties, because comprehension takes energy.
That’s not lazy, it’s just smart composting.
While we wilt, there’s so much happening under the surface. The easiest way to get through is the path of least resistance. Sometimes that means watching telly about watching telly, avoiding the horrors outside our caves just long enough to make it back up to the surface and be part of things again for a while.