on wordle & hbo's euphoria

i’ve noticed that when some new piece of popular cultural fodder comes along, i tend to start consuming content around and about the Thing well before i consume the Thing itself.

the two biggest examples for me right now? wordle and euphoria.

both are the subject of endless tweets, memes, reaction videos, group chats and even think pieces. i’ve gleefully consumed them, sitting at dinner with my friends as they obsess over Fez and Lexi, scanning the articles detailing the acquisition by the NYT and subsequent explosion of popularity on social media. I’ve read tweet threads debating if wordle actually had two words of the day, and viewed reporting on Kate Moss’ younger sister’s struggles with addiciton since starring in Euphoria. I love it. I’m all in.

The problem?

I’ve never played Wordle, and I’ve never seen Euphoria.

i know i eventually will, but when doesn’t concern me. i’m having enough fun digesting everyone else’s takes.

in some ways, i think this is borne from my skillset as a strategist— my innate desire to research, to absorb perspectives, to dig around for opinions and thinkpieces and memes and anything people are making in response to the Thing— that’s often more interesting to me than the Thing itself.

in other ways, i wonder if it can sometimes be limiting, to so often consume someThing when you’ve already been inundated with the cultural backdrop. i try to avoid spoilers, hard lines and blanket statements, but fresh eyes are valuable, even when viewing something according to its cultural impact.

assessing everything through cultural impact is a core part of who dani starkey is and has always been, even if i haven’t had the language to articulate it. it’s not conscious always— just a part of how my brain understands the world. it sounds pretentious, but only when you have to write about it. we all do this kind of thing all the time.

but i find myself asking

“is this exhausting?”

“is it robbing me of joy?”

“is it an anxiety response?”

i think some would think so. other people’s opinions can certainly color your experience, and though i try to view opinions through the lens of an observer and not treat any particular source as absolute fact, i can’t eliminate all biases.

additionally, i know that the tendency to watch or engage with content you’ve already seen or feel comfortable with can be a stress response, designed to relax your brain.

and whilst i sit at home for two years and counting, maybe a bit of relaxation isn’t so much of a bad thing if I’m finding joy in reading the hot takes, laughing at the memes, and being half-in on the joke.