#255: I want to get off.

Stop the bus, I don't like where life is heading.

I’m pushing the button to get off at the next stop.

But the bus isn’t stopping. Nobody is listening.

The carriage is packed. Everyone has their headphones in, nobody is talking, people are doomscrolling on their phones.

They’re reading about Trump, Musk, Starmer, War, Injustice, DOGE, Crypto, Ultra processed foods, GRWM, Reels, News, Podcasts, Content, content, content.

DING

NEXT STOP: AI.

DESTINATION: Climate Disaster.

CHANGE AT PODCAST TOWN FOR ONWARD TRAVEL TO ANTI-AGING VIA BIOHACK BUS.

The bus driver comes on the tannoy, “due to inclement weather we won’t be stopping at sustainability, we’ll be re-routing via consumerism”.

“This announcement is sponsored by Athletic Greens”

Does nobody else want to get off?

The person next to me is listening to a podcast about how to get rich in 2025.

The passenger in front of me is watching a instagram reel on why tap water gives you cancer.

Flick. Flick. Ding. Ding. This bus is a casino for people’s attention.

I try and open the door. I’m willing to hurl myself out and risk injury. They’re locked.

ERROR: MORTGAGE ALERT, YOU CANNOT ALIGHT HERE. ENTER PASSWORD FOR FINANCIAL FREEDOM.

I typed in DOAC20, but it didn’t work.

I don’t like where this bus is heading.

I see flickers of hope stream past my window. Re-wilding projects, mission-led leaders creating social change, activists, true art and creativity, communities coming together to ask big questions, nature - oh sweet mountains.

But mostly I see thousands of flashing screens reflected in the window.

This bus carries on.

I’m not sure what it’s fuelled by, fear, greed, progress? Is that Mark Zuckerberg driving? It’s getting faster and faster.

I want to get off. I don’t know how.

Can anyone help me stop this bus? I don’t like where life is heading.

Then I see her in the corner. A little girl wedged between a couple of men in suits with their over-ear headphones on. Knee height, she’s pointing at something in the corner.

I head over.

She points to it.

EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON.

Finally, a way out. I found it. Thank you! She just smiles.

I press it. The bus slows down. Nobody really notices. A couple of people take an airpod out and raise a quizzical eyebrow.

The doors sigh open. I’m free.

“You sure?” the driver asks, “there won’t be another one for 5 minutes.”

“It’s ok”

I’ll walk.

---

This is how I’ve been feeling lately, scared at the direction the world is heading in. Powerless, hopeless, trapped. I don’t feel like this always, but it only takes 10 minutes on social media to make me feel totally “ugh” about the world.

My optimism and hope is in short supply, which I know is no good thing, because truthfully all leaders have to be optimists. They have to be, to paint better worlds. I want to be there and I need to find that again. It’s coming back.

I know that there’s nothing worse than being another voice criticising the direction of the world. Really, we need more actors, not more critics. In fact, scratch that, we need more leaders, not more critics.

I’m realising, that I need to get off the bus where I can, social media in particular has this way of making me feel like I’m excluded and falling behind. Yet I know from experience that when I’m travelling my own path, walking my own road - I don’t question stuff, I don’t question life at all when I’m walking my own way.

I feel powerless when I’m not accessing my own power. In my world that’s when I’m not making or creating something myself. Or when I’m not saying something.

I feel hopeless when I’m not looking for hope, when I’m not connecting with people. It’s never been easier to drape ourselves in darkness - the specks of light - we have to go looking for them. It’s on us to do that. Squint and you can see it.

Here’s to walking.

Here’s to whatever route feels right.

You can get back on the bus whenever you like.