Welcome to Sleepless Dystopian home of writer Sam I Am / The Mentalist Poet where we attempt to make sense of the world through prose, satire, art, mentalism, opinion, and debate pulling apart the choice architectures of coercive manipulation and control.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/8/20/23/582814cf-84a8-40dc-800e-ac63c3b2229b_this_thing_we_re_building.m4a

This thing we’re creating, it’s not natural but it comes from it. At least we used to be. Now we are part robot. And we don’t mind it.In factWe love it.We get withdrawals if we are moments away from it.This thing we’re building. It is not natural. It will suck the life out of everything and keep going.I would tell you to watch, but you won’t miss a second. You’ll click replay.Because that’s what you like. And they know it. They knew it before you did, and that is the scary thing.At least it should be.But you don’t seem bothered.You never really do. As long as you can get your rocks off. And play your role. It’s panto. And your happy.And so am i.If I don’t engage, I am shunted. If I do, I am de-framed.So, I do. But I don’t. but I so do at times. We all do. There is no point denying it, when we don’t, for the longest while, we find contemplation. And things growing we never noticed before. And then we reach out for it, its all over again.They paint algorithms with our lives so that we live on eternal.And we wonder why mother has left the building.She might not be going for a pack of cigarettes this time. And we know we are right. But we are easily distracted and hypnotised by machines.I am robot.Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/high-angle-photo-of-robot-2599244/" rel="nofollow">Alex Knight:</a> Visit <a href="sleeplessdystopian.com" rel="nofollow">sleeplessdystopian.com</a> to read more of my work

This thing we’re building

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/8/15/23/a9897725-ce70-4860-8217-afc0f3df8c54_sometimes_it_goes_the_other_way_too_.m4a

people say they are going to go dark and they don’t mean itthey say they are disconnecting, going off-grid but it is all just utter bullshitand I am no differentI mean clearly look at me typing into a computer to write a post on my website to share on social media in the vain hope that someone might be in some way touched by itNarcissist that I amBut I would love to be a painterA sculptorFor then I would not touch high definitionAs I would be touching on lifeSo, I would like to go off-gridBuy some woodlandLive off the landAnd be a good neighbour and caretaker to all the beings that live within itGrow my own foodBut only some of this will happen and not in the rose-tinted way I would like them toAnd some things won’t happen at allAnd I will have to be okay with thatBecause one day we all goYou will go, I will go, everyone will go from this world into anotherAnd we are so tied to this one that that process can be painfulAnd can break our heartSo let itIt’s meant toDon’t be fooled by the Hollywood bullshit endingsThere are no great speechesThere are no grand finalesAnd certainly, no encore for the likes of you and meNot this timeso, living off the land sounds niceand we should all give it a goor at least die tryingbut in harmony with it, not the other waya million fucked up consciousness club together to buy a second-hand carand then drove it through your malland the worst thing is you saw it coming, all along, and you were too paralyzed with fear about your own incompetence that it came truewell, that’s the way it goes juniorbut remember what the film said“c”And then the line died,` and with it the party-- Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/withered-ground-1097016/" rel="nofollow">James Frid: </a>Written and read by Sam I am from <a href="SleeplessDystopian.com" rel="nofollow">SleeplessDystopian.com</a>

sometimes it goes the other way too’

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/6/16/22/745145b2-4b66-4917-a389-dcc4ac45d431_lost._even_to_ourselves._until_we_expire..m4a

We court ourselves our entire lives. We are hardly getting to know ourselves and we disappear. The reality of that should hit home, but it doesn’t. It never does. We wonder at ourselves. Pity ourselves and are let down by ourselves far more often than we would like to mention. But it’s ok. We are only human. Whatever that is. And so, the mystery continues. We are never quite where we think we are when we look to try and find ourselves. And we are always the same. But somehow different. We can sit and stare all day and yet never really be there. We can be lost. Even to ourselves. Only to realise we were meant to be thinking about nothing and not be lost in something. Shadows dance across the periphery and bring smiles to our faces. And sometimes pain. But those versions of ourselves we remember but it is not quite us. It’s not quite who we recognise as the image we have painted in our minds. Bad or good it makes no difference. But it is seldom what we see in the mirror and recognise when we truly know who we really are. And so, we project out. Because it’s easier. It is easier than doing the work and finding the answers. We can palm it off on the other guy and let him feel its retribution, so be it. In our disregard for human existence. We disregard our own. And yet we know it and we do it anyway because we are just too damn hard on ourselves. we didn’t ask for this. It’s not our doing. We’re just trying to survive the game. Until we expire. So, we know so little by its end that we read it aloud. We search for meaning in the meaningless and pay over the odds for it. And it’s mediocre at best. Back of the postcard semiprecious platitudes make up for a lack of any discernible integrity. But yet we buy into it because we’ve got to find something to take the edge off. We need to find meaning. They say that as you get older you start to settle into yourself. And it’s true. But you also look back at the older, or younger, versions of yourself and somehow you are unrecognisable, even to you And yet a grain of you was there all along. Which should be enlightening but it leaves you asking, “well if it wasn’t me there all along who was it and where have they gone?” And you are right to ask.  Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/macro-photography-of-brown-and-black-lost-cat-signage-on-black-bare-tree-159868/

lost. Even to ourselves. Until we expire.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/3/26/13/2030aae3-fa00-4554-a7dc-8db2e614269f_podcast_russion_information_war.mp3

As I write these words Russia is a month into its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There are many words I could and have on my social media channels and website, write about this. About the war crimes, the inhumanity, the shelling of civilians, the attacks on people trying to flee but there are many more qualified people on the ground in Ukraine who are doing a much better job of that than I can.So, what can I do? This is a question many ask. There are practical things we can do like donating money and fund raising, working with a local humanitarian group to back up goods for refugees, petitioning the government for more action and so forth. These are all good and if you can do any or all of them it would be a very worthwhile action. There is however something else we can do, from our homes, our computers and smartphones we can combat the Russian Information War. There is more power in the digital disruption and digital activism of the people than they often realise.For more on this topic visit the section on <a href="https://sleeplessdystopian.com/information-warfare" rel="nofollow">Information Warfare on the Sleepless Dystopian website </a> Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@cottonbro?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels" rel="nofollow">cottonbro</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-white-shirt-using-computer-4709289/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels" rel="nofollow">Pexels</a>

The Russian Information War – where do we begin?

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/2/25/11/de53536e-c394-4f7a-880d-1eb5af6a72ac_es_dystopian_podcast_you_are_not_your_thoughts.mp3

In this podcast we look at our thoughts and our monkey brain that doesn&#39;t stop chattering. We look at what this means and how we might reflect on it differently to reframe our thinking to make better sense of the world.

You are not your thoughts - Sleepless Dystopian Podcast

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/2/18/9/72d6cb53-5787-4fc5-8e9f-0ae7b3d43bd7_ill_-_sense_making_sleepless_dystpoian_podcast.mp3

There is nothing the elite hate more than having their narratives disrupted. Of course, in today&#39;s world getting your narrative even heard is challenging enough. The elite do have the benefit though of the media who will suck up every ounce of bait that those in the seats of power in government, big business, and especially big tech give them. Big tech of course also has a great stranglehold of all of the narratives of the world through the censorship, suppression, and removal of content that they do not approve of. Good or bad, whatever side you fall down on the freedom of speech online the fact that these tech titans can leverage this power not just over individuals but other companies, the media and the governments of the world should be concerning to us. But is there a solution to it?read our recent article about it <a href="https://sleeplessdystopian.com/politics/disrupting-narratives-for-social-change-online-safety-bill-could-" rel="nofollow">here</a>

Sleepless Dystopian Podcast - Online Safety Bill

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/2/18/9/c4f62264-b870-4b6a-bd35-ad2a12a34035_cast_1_sleepless_dystopian_-_21_02_2021__13.28.mp3

New podcast from Sleepless Dystopian - intro to general theme This is an introductory podcast for the new direction of https://sleeplessdystopian.com and the idea of using serval topics, looking at different systems and social structures to make better sense of what is going on in the world. With the ultimate aim of improving them. Some video content by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels under All photos and videos on Pexels are free to use.Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.A donation made to the artist, if you like their work please consider donating also. https://www.pexels.com/@mart-production Other images, video editing, etc by Sleepless Dystopian. #sensemaking #sense-making

Sleepless Dystopian - new podcast

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/9/12/10/eea1474d-9bc9-4ed5-8260-3fd2a2fe4c45_this_life.m4a

This lifeThis life, this life it hurts and sometimes Sometimes the people make it worstChasing, chasing words away Chasing, I wish the words would stay And inspire me to find something else to do And inspire me to do something like you But this life is what they put me through, they saidKnow your place sonAnd get your homework doneLearn the system of success Don’t give in to sin, lest you will confess This life This life sucks out your soul All pain, no angst no rock n rollLeft dying on the road History let’s your mind explode This life will never let you restThis life will beat you at your best This life, this life is a struggle from the startLost in confusion of the heart This life is all that’s left to give This life is all I have to live ---Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels" rel="nofollow">Pixabay</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photography-of-pedestal-balustrade-161875/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels" rel="nofollow">Pexels</a>

This life

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2022/2/18/9/1e610efc-b981-4aaa-b8c6-3775f1bce22e_gaslighting_the_british_public.mp3

So, what is really going on right now? What is the truth? Whilst BoJo and his team of co-conspirators look to dismantle the NHS and crash it during a plague. As he and his cronies have said “let the bodies pile high” and then gaslight us with repeating failed concepts; experimenting with the immunity of the heard. Using a metaphor that leaves the British public framed as not just animals and beasts but ones that are tamed, controlled and devoured by their masters. It is clear they have one thing on their agenda: the economy. <h3>Full article here - <a href="https://sleeplessdystopian.com/politics/gaslighting-the-british-public" rel="nofollow">Gaslighting the British Public</a></h3>

Gaslighting the public - response

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/5/20/10/ecc1ece5-6a50-4454-89fc-7d3cb24bfdc1_meaning_.m4a

Meaning

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/3/7/16/2013986a-1425-4ed8-a678-0b070a8dfd00_cult_of_conspiracy_-2.m4a

The cult of conspiracy ravages within the echo cambers of social media. Painting the wall monochrome with the blood of the naysayer. Leaving the stale scent of resentment for all that do not believe. A warning sign for all that should doubt, with the head of John the Baptist placed out front with a spike shafted up through his neck and out through his left eyeball. The crime? He wasn’t an anti vaxer, he was a baptiser of tax collectors, working for a higher cause of course. People have become too lazy to do the real work, to dig a little deeper than the meme. To find out the real cause or source of the information they spew forth, like, share and use to justify the hatred and bile that envelopes them. To find out where the real conspiracy lies whilst they promote Russian filled disinformation, misinformation and make the news seem fake.Grasping at every straw to suit their world view. To try and make sense of the senseless. And normalise abnormalities. “The numbers are fake” they cry “it is no more deadly than the flu”, “They are trying to bring down the economy and enforce sodomy on the young.”When was it that conspiracy theory became mainstream? When did the theorist move from sweat filled darkened rooms, with news paper clippings connected by bits of string on every wall, or maybe that was just the movies? When will people realise that the real conspiracy is the conspiracy theories themselves that point people in the wrong direction whilst data-driven disco kings dance across their timelines. Critical thinking, becomes less critical. No need to study and learn when you are reposting and how it sits within the world when universities are filled with communists looking to force gender specific pronouns on you, whether you want them or not. Everything is a lie. Everything is fake. Everything is driven by greed. Well no shit Sherlock. If conspiracy is the rich conspiring to make themselves and their friends richer, then yes conspiracies are everywhere. Or that is just business a usual. But what about the deep state? What about the illuminati? You don’t hear too much about them anymore. Why not? Don’t get me wrong I like and will entertain a good conspiracy theory. But at the moment people seem to be grasping at straws. Aligning with badly thought out theories with very little substance behind them. They are easy to pick apart. But be wary, when you do expect the wrath of the theorist to turn on you and name you part of the “problem”. Watch you don’t find yourself cancelled.But why I hear you proclaim have they become so popular. The cult of conspiracy needs cult leaders. And they have found a way to monetise hate and generate a star following by spewing forth bilge in disguise as insight. Watch closely my friend and see who is getting rich off the theory. Who is dinning out on your dime whilst you throw yourself into the firing line of yet another ill throughout out meme war?

Cult of Conspiracy

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/3/6/17/a36862b4-e757-4ddf-9a95-f948894bf355_world_in_its_own_shadow.m4a

A world stuck in its own shadow not growing Not moving the way, we were told it wouldWas it a lie?A mass conspiracy A social hoax, on us allAn experiment gone wrongThey promise so much and yet deliver so littleFalse prophets peddling fear and liesEmpty headed and lose tongued Whispering in the ears of informantsWhilst snarling in the face of democracy False vipersFangs removed, looking to incite a riotA false revolution A knuckled headed coup on the peopleFooling no one but those attracted to the alternative to truth

A world stuck in its own shadow

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/3/6/17/2b3475d0-d0e5-4d31-9d6c-9324b6826234_look_into_the_mirror__if_you_dare.m4a

Look into your mirror, if you dare, take a good look at yourself, are you who you wanted to become? Or are you a shell of your former dreams? You can feel it can’t you? It’s a gnawing at the base of your skull. Always there, always gnawing away bit by bit devouring what dreams once lay beneath. Look into your eyes. Directly into your own eyes and breathe. Take a deep breath in and fill your lungs right down to your abdomen. Keep staring into your own eyes. Don’t look away. And breathe out slowly. Feel the energy rise up your body. From your toes to the base of your feet. Up through your lower legs, up through your thighs, you groin, ass and hips, up to the base of your spine and hold it there. Keep staring into your eyes and breath in deeply and then on your out breath let the energy rise into the base of your spine and your lower abdomen. Rising slowly up the spine and into your chest space and breathe. Keep staring into your own eyes, you may feel a little light head and dizzy but keep eye contact with yourself, keep looking for what is inside, who is that staring back at you? Not the shell or the ego but the person behind the shell. Breathe in. Let the energy fill your hearth space and connect fully with your heart, you can feel, can’t you? That connection between the energy centre in your gut and your heart. Hold that feeling and keep focused on keeping eye contact with whatever entity is now looking back at you. And breathe. Take another deep breath in and let the energy rise up into your shoulders and arms, down your biceps and forearms, into your hands and fingers, you feel it don’t  you, let the energy flow through back up into your throat area and the base of your neck in up the spine. You can feel it can’t you, more vividly than before. You can feel that gnawing right at that point at the base of your skull, the gnawing doubt of realisation that you might never become the person you wished to be. Breathe in and watch that energy rise up into your head. Feel the energy rise up into your chin and the back and centre of your head at the same time, as if your skull was filling with water, and breathe, keep looking into those eyes. Its looking back at you, whatever it is, it sees you and you see it. The energy continues upwards at the back and centre of your head and over your lips, you feel it in your tongue, your teeth and up into your nose. The front of your face. Your cheeks, your lower sagging and tired eyelids, you let out a big, tired sigh until the energy seeps up into your eye line, into your eyeballs that feel dry, now the energy is sat right back at the very windows from which you see into your soul and within which you have connected with this entity that is calmly observing you becoming aware of it. The energy rises. It reaches the spot on your forehead just between your eyes. The spot where they say the third eye remains. You feel the energy there and the connection. You become aware of the energy centres of your heart and your gut have become more alive and connected to that spot. You place your left hand on your heart and your right on your stomach and breath. Breath in deep that connection, you feel centred and connected. Your deep connection with that thing that sit behind your eyes moves into a new space of knowing and you breathe.You rest in that spot of the longest while and then…. you let than energy rise up filling the rest of your head until it reaches the peak, the very top of your head and your consciousness. You take a deep breath and hold it as the energy reaches the tip of your head, your very highest peak and you hold that breath you feel a little light headed but still you hold that breath until you can hold it no more and you let go, you breath out a big long breath and you feel the release from your entire body as it softens and relaxes and all the time keeping eye contact a sense of relief and relaxation comes over you as you realise that the entity that is looking back at you is you, not the ego and the constant chatter that thinks it is you but the real you, the universal life source connected to all energy that is experiencing itself as you and you accept it and connect with it. And you realise that that gnawing at the base of your skull is subsiding, it is fading away and it was not your egoic false connection to perceived failure but a growing need to connect to the real you, the observer behind the eyes, behind the egoic mind, the observer that watches and connect us to something greater. The one who sits in quiet judgement of us, who knows what is truly good and what is not, who knows if we are living the best lives we can be, who knows more than any words could convey who you really are. Now I will leave you in peace to get to know each other.

Look into the mirror

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/3/6/17/5ed991f0-89c5-4efa-95eb-61d065098534_step_inside.m4a

Step inside yourself, they saySet aside your outer sensesStep inside and seeYour inner workingsStep inside and seeWhat is hiddenWhat awaits you thereFear notAlthough the path may be weary for your soulIt is worth doingKnowing your inner workingsAnd what lurks within the shadowsForgotten and buried deepStep inside yourself and see yourself anewIt’s a path worth treading only if you dareStep inside yourself and awaken your inner demonsOnly then would you be able to tame themOnly then will you be able to step outside yourselfAnd know what it is to be youStep inside yourself, they sayIt is a journey worth takingStep inside

Step Inside

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2021/3/6/17/9863e90e-19d5-49aa-88a0-15e59ce9e8ae_alternative_truth.m4a

In a world where reality is subjective and fake truths out way facts what can you believe?You spend your days downloading digital delusion and confusion and fear is all you see. The world looked a little different yesterday, or so you think. But how do you know what reality is anyway when alternative facts ring inside your head. Everyone has a theory. And those that deny the connections you see are either part of the problem or living in a world on constructed reality. Controlled by the media and the government propaganda but all the way through you have had the ability to see the truth through the lies, haven’t you? Even when you were small?You could always read between the lines even when there weren’t any words on the page. And now you see it for what it is. The others are just sheep. The madding crowds flock to their masters will and do not leave their homes. They obey. Prisoners to the story. Prisoners to the spin. The others they wear their masks, but you see right through them. They hide their smiles as the authorities have demanded. And when basic supplies look like they might be going short they panic. But not you. You have been waiting for this day for a long time. You have been preparing, planning, waiting. They fall in line. But you walk to a different beat. You tread your own path. You don’t hide behind your government legislated masks. You stand out whilst trying to blend in a not alert the authorities. You are special. You were sent here to speak the alternative truth, and this is your destiny, you’re meaning. And you spoke it didn’t you. You spoke out against the rules and regulation, you caused a fuss. You refused to wear the masks, to keep the distance, to stay at home, and when the protection was offered, you refused that injection because you didn’t want that chip in your shoulder. You didn’t want the government to know what you were up to, to monitor your movements and your thoughts and so you told your world about it on Facebook and YouTube via your smart phone and your bubble grew, your echo chamber reverberated. But the government knew more from that phone than you ever realised and no chip in your shoulder could ever compare with what they knew about you. You were paranoid you were being watched, because you was, by the algorithms.And now, as you lie on your hospital bed, grasping at and gasping for breath, you are certain you know what truth is, now. What reality looks like. And you realise the biggest conspiracy you uncovered in all of your searching and research and digging online was the conspiracy that showed itself in this moment. The conspiracy to shroud the truth in enough doubt that you believed the lies that you spread over that what lay in front of your eyes.And with your last breaths you realise your purpose, you reach for your phone, you Go Live and announce to all that are watching, all of your followers that it is not fake, that this disease is true, that people are dying of it and you are one of them, but as you do you see your follower, you friends in your echo chamber, you see them dislike, give the angry face and come back at you. Calling you a mole, an inside agent of lies and propaganda, you have been denounced and shunned by your cult of conspiracy for daring to do that one thing you must never do, confuse reality with alternative truth, you let reality slip in, and as you realise with your last breath your destiny, your life purpose and meaning to dismantle this cult of confusion you realise it’s too late and it slips away from you without a sound.

Alternative Truth

Welcome to Sleepless Dystopian home of writer Sam I Am / The Mentalist Poet where we attempt to make sense of the world through prose, satire, art, mentalism, opinion, and debate pulling apart the choice architectures of coercive manipulation and control.