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‘Wellness’ culture is empty without service to others
The self-help and ‘wellness’ industries are booming. Yet the effects don’t match the money spent.
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While we have become very good at helping ourselves, we may have forgotten about the value and joy that come from helping others, says the writer.
PHOTO: ISTOCK
Jemima Kelly
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We are living in a self-service world. At the supermarket (if you still physically go to one), you can use an automated checkout and not have to bother asking the person at the till how their day is going. If you need cheering up, don’t worry about calling a friend; just open your favourite social media platform and let the algorithm lull you into numbness. If you need relationship advice – actually, scrap that, you don’t, because now you’re in a relationship with an artificial intelligence chatbot and, unlike the yoomans, they don’t cause you any drama. Idyllic, isn’t it?
Well, maybe not. While we have been so busy making everything so convenient and becoming so self-sufficient, we seem to have also made ourselves lonely and miserable.
