[https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/the-delusion-machine]

Of late, I am steeped in failure—professional, spiritual, personal, and creative. I lie about it, but my persistent failure pushed me off social media, with the shameful exception of the aforementioned LinkedIn, the definition of the necessary evil I need in order to find employment in my dying industry. I cannot stand even accidental exposure to other people’s success—their vacations, their promotions, their Whole30—so I pretend that my bitterness and envy is a principled stance.