The Pendulum Swings

During my senior year of highschool, my English teacher said four words from behind her desk after wrapping up a lecture on Nathaniel Hawthorne. Assuming most of us were too busy writing notes in gel pen to notice, she said it under her breath, but I heard her. And while I didn’t yet have the capacity or experience to fully appreciate it’s meaning, I’ve thought about her words many times over the last 20 years¹ :

“The pendulum always swings.”

In literature, art, politics, culture, trends, (add more as you see fit) - we, as a whole, will always move back and forth between opposing extremes. No matter how far we go in one direction as a society, if you trust in the pendulum, you can trust in our inevitable(and overcorrected) return to the ‘before’.

The Pendulum Theory has guided me throughout my own roaring twenties as I navigated friendships, independence, and my relationship to men. It has guided me through my 30s as I continue to find my way through the challenges of parenthood, the realities of mortality, and my relationship to my own femininity.

Because the words of the whispered teacher were right. The pendulum always swings.

Preparing my valedictorian speech that Spring, I had hinged my message for my friends and classmates on this pendulum theory. I just couldn’t let it go. It was the last thing I wanted to say before parting ways. I needed to scream of the pendulum to any who would listen!

I saw hints of the pendulum in my mother’s outfits from old photographs. I heard the pendulum in the defiant music on the cassette tapes from my father’s youth. I felt the pendulum’s pull in the way my grandfather spoke about caring for his trees, buried deep inside the dirt² .

The pendulum was ever present, in different positions throughout its arc, everywhere I looked.

So this one is for you, Ms. Karen.
I think about your words in every sway.

Hints of the Pendulum: A Working Theory

You can feel it, can’t you? The pull back? As the pendulum reaches the point of maximum displacement, with artificial everythings and promises of abundance through optimization at every turn, the forces will soon yank us back towards the earth.

The velocity is changing. You only need to pay attention.

The pixels have served their time. The yearn to scroll as we piss is nearing its end. We are reaching our peak displacement from human connection, and I welcome the new momentum with open arms.

The velocity is changing.

Because I trust that the pendulum always swings, I’ve been bracing myself for an acceleration towards the familiar for quite some time. But only now have I noticed the pull back.

You can feel it, can’t you?

Hint #1: The Feed Is Fake³

Uh oh. The Dead Internet Theory is real, folks.

Hint #2: The Algorithm’s Death Rattle

The curtain is being pulled. When the algorithm is desperately trying to assign value to connection, I hear the death rattle of the system. You can’t quantify what makes us human, because the sum of our humanity is greater than the whole of its parts.

Hint #3: Art is making a comeback

Culture is recognizing the importance of culture. Ain’t it sweet?

Hint #4: The Masses’ Massive Push Back

People don’t want cut corners in creative spaces. You’ll find the push back everywhere, even in sports ball.

Hint #5: The Ressurgence of Tiny Desks

MTV unplugged. Outdoor concerts. NPR Tiny Desk concerts. They all signify a space for vulnerability in imperfection across an auditory medium. We crave less controlled substances. We crave less perfection.

Garage bands over mega ultra stadiums, please. For now, Tiny Desk will have to do⁴ .

Hint #6: We’re Bricked Up

Cell phones have become an extension of our bodies. But they don’t have to be. We just need help getting through the withdrawals, first. And if we follow the products, we can see the shift forming.

We have a computer-phone-camera in our hands, but we’re buying “no screens - just a camera”

We have a computer-phone-dopamine device in our hands, but we’re buying enforceable screen time reduction.

So it all comes back to Jean-Paul Sartre.

We have been living a toothless life. But soon, we will bite into everything again.

until next time.
-cd

1  I will process this gut-punch of a realization later

2  The pendulum will, one day, convince you to get your hands dirty again.

3  Hypothetically speaking, if you needed to bypass a paywall for an article, you could allegedly paste the article’s URL here: archive.ph

4  Without tiny desk, I wouldn’t have found this. In the midst of the algorithm’s pull, I almost forgot that I got a loud bark, deep bite.