Very well put — especially cool to see the parallels between pilgrimages and wellness retreats. One thing I kept wondering while reading:
Do you see the secularization of wellness as ultimately empowering, or are there risks in how it replaces traditional moral frameworks without offering the same forms of accountability or community responsibility? What direction is this leading us to?
You hinted to something important being missing / left behind in humanity's rush towards modern day wellness, but did not elaborate on the ramifications of this change:
"we're still counting our way to redemption."
"we've abandoned traditional moral frameworks without replacing the psychological infrastructure they provided. The resulting internal fragmentation leaves us vulnerable to new systems of meaning... Hence the move toward the optimized self, our yearning for omnipotence through the human experience... But unlike traditional religion, it lacks accountability structures or social responsibility requirements."
What happens if we keep going down this road, with no concern for properly establishing accountability structures and a framework for a moral compass?
Maybe it's worth exploring in a separate post, but would love to hear your take.
Such good questions, honestly these are questions I still ponder myself. I'm a mere observer of where this societal shift might eventually lead though all these remain potentialities.
In the most utopian sense, I see wellness bringing people together through community, a positive one at that. As the old saying goes, you are the collection of the five people you spend most of your time with. If we're constantly surrounded by positive influence, we naturally ameliorate ourselves in the process.
Regarding secularization, I'd rather worship wellness than money. I see wellness more as a path to connection—it provides me clarity to connect better with myself, others around me, and the universe at large.
With every societal trend, people enter into certain microcosms for various reasons, validation being one. It all depends on one's purview. If they see wellness as a means to an end, like gaining a following or for aesthetic reasons, there's no true moral implication. I personally see it as a path to connection, so I treat it as such. It is all contextual at the end of the day.
This is such a brilliant analogy.! The way wellness has evolved into a new kind of religion with its own sacred texts: self-help books, rituals: morning routines, ice baths, supplement stacks, and high priests: biohackers, longevity experts, influencers, feels so accurate. There’s a moral undertone to it too, where discipline and optimization are seen as signs of worthiness, and any deviation is almost treated like a personal failing.
I recently wrote about how wellness feels like the new hustle culture, but I really love your framing of it as a religion. In both cases, the underlying message is often the same: you are not enough as you are, and there is always more to optimize, more to improve, more to strive for. It’s exhausting, and yet, like any belief system, it offers a sense of structure and control in an uncertain world.
Love it! We've moved away from the notion of the transcendental, but our wiring still requires us to believe in something bigger than us. Hence subconsciously, we move towards revering trends, status symbols, etc. Wellness at least is the most positive of all!
Fascinating analogy. I never thought of it that way. It reminds me of the 2010s new age atheism wave when Hitchens, Dennett and gang took down religious dogma with logic and evidence. However, that very movement sometimes used to feel like a religion itself, offering community, identity, and even a sort of gospel in the triumph of reason. It seems we've now replaced that with the pursuit of the optimized self as you point out. I resonate with most of your points here- gym memberships, fitness tracking apps/wellness check-ins have all become sacred parts of my life. Unlike the new age atheism movement which didn’t do much to address the deeper meaning of life, this movement of self-optimization seems to speak to our fundamental need for belonging and purpose. It's kind of weird, but when you break it down the way you did, it makes so much sense.
Very well put — especially cool to see the parallels between pilgrimages and wellness retreats. One thing I kept wondering while reading:
Do you see the secularization of wellness as ultimately empowering, or are there risks in how it replaces traditional moral frameworks without offering the same forms of accountability or community responsibility? What direction is this leading us to?
You hinted to something important being missing / left behind in humanity's rush towards modern day wellness, but did not elaborate on the ramifications of this change:
"we're still counting our way to redemption."
"we've abandoned traditional moral frameworks without replacing the psychological infrastructure they provided. The resulting internal fragmentation leaves us vulnerable to new systems of meaning... Hence the move toward the optimized self, our yearning for omnipotence through the human experience... But unlike traditional religion, it lacks accountability structures or social responsibility requirements."
What happens if we keep going down this road, with no concern for properly establishing accountability structures and a framework for a moral compass?
Maybe it's worth exploring in a separate post, but would love to hear your take.
Such good questions, honestly these are questions I still ponder myself. I'm a mere observer of where this societal shift might eventually lead though all these remain potentialities.
In the most utopian sense, I see wellness bringing people together through community, a positive one at that. As the old saying goes, you are the collection of the five people you spend most of your time with. If we're constantly surrounded by positive influence, we naturally ameliorate ourselves in the process.
Regarding secularization, I'd rather worship wellness than money. I see wellness more as a path to connection—it provides me clarity to connect better with myself, others around me, and the universe at large.
With every societal trend, people enter into certain microcosms for various reasons, validation being one. It all depends on one's purview. If they see wellness as a means to an end, like gaining a following or for aesthetic reasons, there's no true moral implication. I personally see it as a path to connection, so I treat it as such. It is all contextual at the end of the day.
This is such a brilliant analogy.! The way wellness has evolved into a new kind of religion with its own sacred texts: self-help books, rituals: morning routines, ice baths, supplement stacks, and high priests: biohackers, longevity experts, influencers, feels so accurate. There’s a moral undertone to it too, where discipline and optimization are seen as signs of worthiness, and any deviation is almost treated like a personal failing.
I recently wrote about how wellness feels like the new hustle culture, but I really love your framing of it as a religion. In both cases, the underlying message is often the same: you are not enough as you are, and there is always more to optimize, more to improve, more to strive for. It’s exhausting, and yet, like any belief system, it offers a sense of structure and control in an uncertain world.
Love it! We've moved away from the notion of the transcendental, but our wiring still requires us to believe in something bigger than us. Hence subconsciously, we move towards revering trends, status symbols, etc. Wellness at least is the most positive of all!
Legit commentary
Thanks Kevin!
Fascinating analogy. I never thought of it that way. It reminds me of the 2010s new age atheism wave when Hitchens, Dennett and gang took down religious dogma with logic and evidence. However, that very movement sometimes used to feel like a religion itself, offering community, identity, and even a sort of gospel in the triumph of reason. It seems we've now replaced that with the pursuit of the optimized self as you point out. I resonate with most of your points here- gym memberships, fitness tracking apps/wellness check-ins have all become sacred parts of my life. Unlike the new age atheism movement which didn’t do much to address the deeper meaning of life, this movement of self-optimization seems to speak to our fundamental need for belonging and purpose. It's kind of weird, but when you break it down the way you did, it makes so much sense.
thank you for reading, ameen!
You can see this moving downstream toward everyday Americans in the form of MAHA
100%, will be exploring health policy and what that means for the normal consumer very soon