To Be Awake in a Sleeping World

“Why should I care?”

That’s the real question, isn’t it? Why bother trying to become more aware, more present, more aligned in a world that rewards distraction and performance? Why take on the pain of living awake when sleepwalking seems easier?

Let’s get something straight before we begin:
Becoming “awake” is not a guaranteed path to happiness.
It might wreck you.

You might lose friends. You might cry more. You’ll notice things that used to pass under your radar: hypocrisy, manipulation, injustice, beauty so intense it hurts. You’ll become allergic to your own lies. You’ll realize how many people around you are performing versions of themselves they don’t even like. And you’ll start to see the cracks in your own mask.

So yeah—living the examined life? It’s not all mountaintop revelations and serene smiles over green tea. Sometimes, it’s more like being the only sober person in a world drunk on distraction. You’ll see just how asleep everyone is. And worse—how often you slip back into sleep despite yourself.

So again: why care?

Because the alternative is worse.

To live unconsciously is to sleepwalk through your one and only life. To be manipulated by whatever flashing light or algorithm is loudest. To be told who you are by marketing firms, family ghosts, and fear. To feel that something’s off—but not know what. To spend your best years reacting, obeying, comparing, conforming—and calling it “living.”

The examined life won’t always feel better. But it is better. It’s yours.

It’s the only life where you get to choose—really choose—what matters. Where you get to feel joy that isn’t sold to you, where you cry over things that deserve your tears. Where you live as a soul, not a brand.

To be awake is to participate.

To be aligned is to say:

“I will not outsource my values, my mind, or my meaning to the machinery of this world.”

You won’t be perfect at it. Nobody is. But you’ll remember who you are, again and again—and that, more than anything, is why we begin.