The Ad That Changed My Life

If you're like me, at least in one respect, then you spend some time online: reading, scrolling and dreaming. Imagination goes with the territory. We read the words and the words provoke thoughts. We think about the life we have, and the life we want. Somewhere, in that gap between wanting and having, is where advertising sinks its teeth.

Picture this: here you are, reading and scrolling. Maybe dreaming. Before you know what's happening, now you're reading an advertisement. They know you're dreaming. You're already building worlds in your mind, traveling to faraway places, visiting with friends and family. You are feeling and remembering and wanting. That's when they grab you.

Scroll past. Fast! Before it gets inside. But, it's already too late. Even if you think it's not too late, it's too late. If you didn't notice it at all, that's even worse! Now it's subliminal -- it's unconscious. The first time you see it, it's just a stranger passing by. Next time, you might note the familiar face. After ten times, you think "oh yeah, I know that thing, I've been hearing about that for a while!" It's practically an old friend. That's how they get you.

Some ads speak to your fears and insecurities. Maybe you want to lose weight or you don't like your hair. They know. They might even know before you do. Personally, I am starting to be concerned that "male problems" may be in my future. At least I know where I can order medication discreetly and without embarrassment, should the need arise. Or fail to arise, if you know what I mean. Regardless, these ads don't really get much of my attention. They seem transparently manipulative.

Some ads speak to more practical, but less personal problems. I've been getting ads, lately, for an expensive heavy duty floor jack. The ad is in a pretty heavy rotation. I don't need that, at all, but I did "laugh react" to the first ad I saw and I guess that means I might be interested.

I also get a lot of ads with pictures of weird electronic devices and sometimes I click on the ad to figure out what the thing even is. Again, this encourages them so they keep sending me more. It probably started because I was going to buy an oscilloscope. I don't know how to use one, but they look really cool. I’m just window shopping, though. But at least these ads don't imply that I’m old, fat, or otherwise infirm.

The people who sell really colorful Hawaiian style shirts with Dragons and Santa Claus and weed-smoking aliens also have me pretty well figured out. The shirts are terrible quality and I regret buying so many of them.

But the ad that came at the right time and hit the right note and prompted me to make a good decision was the ad that appealed to my dreams. And this time I mean dream in the sense of aspiration. The fantasy life that I want to manifest into reality. And, yes, I get lots of ads for Law of Attraction courses, too, because I have a soft spot tor that stuff and even have some friends in that industry. But I'm not talking about material dreams, even.

The truth is: I want to be a writer. I mean, I am a writer. I write every day. I have filled journals. I have milk crates filled with file folders and yellow pads and wire bound notebooks each with a few or a dozen or two score pages of notes and ideas and thoughts. I have hundreds of notes on my phone. I leave 200-300 word comments on my friends' Facebook posts.

At one point, I had 24 different screenplays I was "working on." By that, I mean that I wrote a synopsis on a pink 5x7 card. I have a whole stack of them. But my big failure as a writer is that I never finish anything. I know that's the cardinal rule: finish what you start. Not finishing is a sin. It is a recipe for a lifetime of failure and disappointment.

Maybe I’m laying it on a little hard, but my life is a study in the art of the dabbler. To the ambitious, there is no worse label. If nothing else, though, it has given me a broad education. It has given me the perspective and life-experience that a young and disciplined writer lacks.

A few days ago, I started getting targeted ads for Vocal. If you haven't heard of that, it's where you are reading this, now. I know it's cheeky of me to write about Vocal when I am writing on Vocal specifically for a Vocal writing challenge. The word “pandering” might even come up.

Vocal is sold as a platform for writers to write and publish short articles and make a small amount of money. Money is nice. I use it all the time. I can always use some more. I would love to make money as a writer. But, more than that, I want to overcome my own obstacles. I want to do more than just write words, I want to start finishing.

This was not the first time I had heard of Vocal, and it's not the first time I considered signing up for this or the other writing platform. I have seen them before. You could say I was already familiar with it -- practically an old friend.

What convinced me to hit that "learn more" button on the Vocal ad was the writing contests. My problem with writing is that My ideas are so ambitious that I get overwhelmed and end up taking a break and setting them aside. The Vocal writing challenges sounded like the ideal project. I can write a thousand words in my sleep, figuratively speaking. By two thousand, though, I fall asleep -- but literally.

So, social media has me figured out. More importantly, it actually helped me. It was a thing I wanted to do, but Resistance and her twin sister Procrastination always seduced me when the opportunity came up, before, but when I saw that ad scroll by up over and over: I took it as a sign. Believing in signs and omens of good luck is said to be one of the mental traits shared among people who consider themselves to be lucky.

I decided to be lucky. I bought a year of Vocal membership. This is my second article, and I can't wait to start the next one!

In embracing this life on social media, swimming in ads and accepting this world all its aspects, I may have given up my privacy and even a measure of my personal autonomy. I may be allowing myself to be politically, emotionally, and financially manipulated by data-mining and algorithms. But, I've taken a concrete positive action to nurture my dreams. That's a good purchase.