Russell Brand has been making a new name for himself lately, advocating a personal style of enlightenment and social responsibility, which, he claims, will revolutionize the world.
In a nutshell, at every opportunity he gets, Brand speaks in favor of a life more examined and mindful of itself. He rejects the ills of exploitation, urging people to let go of their obsessions and embrace a more meaningful existence.
It all sounds fine and dandy. But is it applicable?
Not very. Unless you’re a meditation/yoga/self-improvement expert, or a very serious fan of this style of living, it’s all too abstract and hazy, with too much theory involved and too few ways to apply it.
It saddens me to say, but it’s easier to follow Tony Robbins’s brand of enlightenment, robotic as it is, than Brand’s. It’s more applicable and hands-on.
Brand performs an important role. He pinpoints problems.
Having said that, Brand performs an important role. He pinpoints problems. He may not have the answer to the ills that plague life as we know it, but he’s tracing out all the trouble spots, highlighting them with a fluorescent marker, saying, This, mate, is what needs to go. Right here, right now. I don’t care how you do it, just get rid of it, like you would a pool of piss from your living room.
See, there’s two kinds of processes involved in improving one’s life. One is finding ways to make things work better. The other is cleaning up the filth and infection.
Brand is cleaning up.
An unenviable job but somebody’s got to do it. Who better than a recovering alcoholic junkie who has looked down the barrel of a gun, and laid at the bottom of the barrel, more than once, scraping dregs for a living? Who better than the person who has climbed out of this mess, all too aware how one ends up in it, to tell us where the stench is and how to avoid it?
For an article on Brand’s problem with reality, his amazing insight on what the problem is and how he deals with it, click here.