Breaking Free from the Mirror: My Journey with Mimetic Desire

Have you ever found yourself standing in line for a movie everyone's raving about, only to wonder halfway through if you actually wanted to see it? Or maybe you've bought that trendy kitchen gadget that's now collecting dust in your drawer? That's mimetic desire at work, and here's my story of breaking free from it. The Shopping Mall Effect Imagine walking through a mall. You see a crowd gathered outside a store, and suddenly you feel drawn to join them, even before knowing what they're queuing for. That's mimetic desire – we want things simply because others want them. It's like being caught in an endless game of "follow the leader" where everyone's following, but no one knows who started the line. The Awakening: When the Mirror Cracks One day, while organizing my closet full of "must-have" items that I rarely used, I realized something profound. Each purchase was like a script I was following in a play I hadn't written. All these possessions were roles I was trying to play – the tech-savvy early adopter, the fashion-conscious professional, the gourmet home chef. Finding the Pause Button: Meditation Enters the Scene Think of meditation as a pause button on a video that's playing on auto-repeat. When you pause, you can finally see whether you're watching something you enjoy or just following along because everyone else is watching too. Through meditation, I started noticing the difference between authentic desires and copied ones. From Collecting to Creating The real transformation began when I shifted from collecting things to creating them. It's like the difference between being a food critic and a chef – instead of just consuming and judging others' creations, I started making my own. My creative outlet happened to be software, but yours might be: Writing stories Growing a garden Making music Teaching others Creating art The Sustainability Bonus Creating digital content has an surprisingly earth-friendly side. Unlike my old habit of buying new gadgets or clothes, my creative work: Uses minimal resources Doesn't fill up landfills Can help many people without creating physical waste Doesn't require exploitative labor practices The Plot Twist: Creating Has Its Own Traps But here's where it gets interesting – even in creation, we can fall into the mimetic trap. Just as I once chased trending products, I caught myself chasing trending topics and popular formats. The key is to stay conscious of why we're creating. The Continuous Journey: Moving Forward Breaking free from mimetic desire isn't like flipping a switch – it's more like adjusting the dial on a radio to find the right frequency. Some days the signal is clear, and other days there's static, but the goal is to keep tuning in to our authentic selves. Practical Steps for Breaking Free: The 24-Hour Rule: Wait a day before buying anything non-essential that you suddenly "must have" The Why Chain: Ask yourself "why?" five times when you want something The Creation Challenge: Spend one hour creating for every three hours you spend consuming The Influence Inventory: Notice when your desires change after spending time on social media The Joy Check: Ask yourself if you'd want this thing even if you couldn't show it to anyone else Remember, the goal isn't to never want what others want – sometimes popular things are popular for good reasons. The goal is to make conscious choices rather than automatic copies. Your Turn What desires have you noticed yourself "catching" from others? What would you create if you redirected that energy into making something instead of acquiring something?

Note: This post is part of my ongoing exploration of mindful living and conscious creation. Join me on this journey of discovering what we truly want versus what we're programmed to want.