An imaginary city.
A place that’s real only when someone is watching.
Or recording. Or remembering.
And you’re right, the feeling lives somewhere between the city and the self.
But what is the self now, when anyone can be a million selves.
Or dream of being all selves.
Be any self they want online.
What is self.
We might feel like we have a choice.
To decide who we want to be: a cowboy, an astronaut, a chef, maybe a superstar.
But can we truly decide.
And in that long, looping process of deciding,
do we even notice others going through the same mental spin.
We forget they are real.
We doubt they are real.
We doubt reality itself.
As soon as something goes wrong, we don’t believe it.
We don’t accept the negative side of life.
It’s easier not to.
So we move on without healing.
Just ignore it.
Ignore the self. Ignore the others.
And in that state, how are you supposed to feel real.
A numb life.
In a numb city.
Of numb selves.
Surrounded by numb others.
And this new, unexplored cyber life,
where you can consume the dream and call it your new reality,
it’s just a patch on a numb wound.
