So, it seems that the last few years I’ve not really done anything with my life. The music career, since it was somewhat dampened back in 2003 due to tinnitus, is still one of my biggest drives in life, but with so little time to invest into it, creativity is normally drowned out by frustration.

With my day job taking precedence over everything else, repetition and routine are becoming more noticeable to me on a daily basis, and as one weekend blends into another, I can feel anxiety building.

At the moment it feels like I’m working just to stay afloat. Monthly bills and weekend spending (mainly eating out to take my mind off monthly bills) absorb my salary, leaving me standing, gasping for breath at the same starting line at the beginning of each month.

You might be thinking “dude, this sounds familiar!”. Well, as it turns out we’re not alone..

Lately, more and more I’m hearing about ‘mid twenties anxiety’, and how we’re living in ‘an age of anxiety’. More information is being thrown at us now than ever before, more companies are finding new ways to effectively market new products and services to us, and as always the main drive behind this is money and greed.

I feel a pressure / need to belong to a group or community, to have a goal or purpose, and so I join Facebook, Myspace, bebo , *any other social networking site*. Now I’m hit with advertising by marketing companies trying to sell me their products.

I give in to an urge to stay up to date with information and goings on in our world, in hope to find an opportunity or motivation, and so I join Netvibes, Twitter, Blinklist, *any other social-content-feed-aggregation-type-site*. Now I’m hit with services, subscriptions to services, and information about subscriptions for these services.

Obviously over the last 10 years, what with the uptake on technology in our homes, there has been a shift from mainstream / core advertising [TV, Radio, Print], to what’s referred to as ‘New Media’ [a purposely general term used to encapsulate all non-traditional advertising methods, mainly computer / internet based]. An obvious step – businesses have to follow their audience in order to sell their products and services to survive.

What concerns me lately, is a new shift in focus from mainstream New Media advertising to a very much more up-close-and-personal environment.

It seems our personal craving to be kept up to date with everything that is going on around us, for fear we may actually miss out on that golden opportunity, is actually a vulnerability which a lot of companies are now beginning to exploit.

1. Adverts in my friend feeds, polluting my pleasure in keeping in touch with the people that matter to me..
2. Sales calls to my mobile, selling me services I already have, or products I “have registered my interest for” without knowing..
3. Junk in my mail, rewarding me for being a loyal customer, and low and behold, a new store discount card..
4. Spam in my inbox, telling me I’ve won another lottery, and offering me more free Viagra..
5. Sales people in the streets, with their shiny new folders and flashing pens, like gloating vultures that have eaten so much they can’t even take flight..

And the result of all the above…?

I feel even more lost and without a purpose, I’m still searching for a motivation or goal, I’m still waiting for that opportunity which will change my life, and as we speak I’m subscribing to another “how to make money in your sleep” email campaign…

Finally, to add a little irony, my day job involves helping companies find ways to advertise to people just like me to gain leverage, sell more products and services and help saturate their greed.