---
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---


## Delusional dreams of excess freedom

Jim Carrey [once said](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1151805-i-think-everybody-should-get-rich-and-famous-and-do) that he hoped everyone could "...get rich and famous and do everything they dreamed of so they can see that it is not the answer". And while I sorta agree, I think the opposite position also has its appeal: That believing in a material fix to the problem of existence dangles a carrot of hope that's depressing to go without.

What made me think of Carrey's quote was [this tale of the startup founder behind Loom](https://vinay.sh/i-am-rich-and-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with-my-life/), who made out with a $60m windfall when his business was sold, and is still working his way through the existential crisis that created. It's harder than you think to suddenly have all the freedom you ever desired land in your lap. You may just realize that you don't actually know what to do with it all!

And this predicament isn't reserved for successful entrepreneurs either. You see miniature revelations of this in many stories of retirement. Workers who after a long life toiling away suddenly arrive at the promised land of unlimited time, the basics taken care of, and full freedom from all responsibilities and obligations. Some literally wither away from all that excess freedom.

One of the Danish newspapers I read recently [published](https://politiken.dk/debat/art10182189/%C2%BBJeg-tror-der-er-rigtig-mange-pensionister-der-n%C3%A6rmest-g%C3%A5r-i-hundene%C2%AB) a series on exactly this phenomenon. Pensioners who realize that life without work can be a surprisingly difficult place to find meaning in. That being needed, being useful is far more attractive than leaning back in leisure. And, as a result, more and more senior Danes are returning to the workforce, at least part time, to reclaim some of that meaning.

I think you can even draw a connection to the stereotype of rich kids who grow up never being asked to do contribute anything, busy bossing the help around, and as a result end up floundering in a vapid realm of materialism. Condemned rather than blessed.

Yes, this all rhymes a bit with [that iconic scene from The Matrix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wgn0KlSHl4) where Cypher is negotiating a return to blissful ignorance with Agent Smith: I don't want to remember nothing! Because once you know that the material carrot is just like [the spoon that bends because it doesn't actually exist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXtO5dMqEI), you're condemned to a life of knowing that what you imagine as nirvana probably isn't.

What beautiful irony: That the prize for catching the carrot is the realization that chasing it was more fun.
