Overload… heals
(Baonghean.vn) - Healing can be seen as a need for an entire generation - as people have been stressed out by the unstable realities of life for a long time. But the further we go into the "healing market," the more deviations we see.
Online, you're bombarded with… healing. Family problems? Travel for healing. Business failures? Meditation for healing. Unsatisfactory studies or work? Join a healing retreat? Even uncontrollable obesity? Join a green eating program for self-healing… The keyword “healing” is everywhere, infiltrating every aspect of life, creating the illusion of a miraculous power that can soothe and resolve all human troubles. But is that really the case?
Last week, curious about this healing trend, I boldly joined a private Facebook group with over 100,000 members. After waiting a few minutes for group administrator approval, and expecting to enter some magical spiritual world to soothe my sorrows, I was surprised to find thousands of statuses in the group filled with dogmatic, empty philosophies, like:The more aware you are of your shortcomings, the faster you will mature and the more steadfast your self-confidence will be; You are your own torch; You are more capable of forgiveness than you think; Forgiving the mistakes of others is a gift to them…
Such statements are rampant, and in the comments, countless people claim to be coaches, understanding body, mind, and spirit, offering personal psychological counseling to heal all kinds of situations. Out of curiosity, I delved deeper into some of the coaches actively participating in the group and found a wide range of ages, genders, and work histories. Some coaches are middle-aged, while others are only 20-25 years old, both male and female. Before becoming coaches, they were office workers, small business owners, freelance writers, online sellers, and so on.
It's clear that these coaches are extremely articulate and eloquent, able to livestream for hours on end, rambling on about the spiritual world, inner energy, and mind-opening. Apparently, there are 15-day to 1-month training courses for coaches, and after completing them, every coach is guaranteed to have memorized the same "seeds of the soul" phrases, giving advice to everyone in a very similar way.
Browsing Facebook reveals a myriad of healing methods: healing meditation courses, healing retreats, healing yoga, writing for healing, healing green eating, healing travel, healing bell listening, healing music, healing conversations… Not everyone has the ability to independently explore, discover, and resolve their own spiritual problems, so most healing courses, in all forms, require instructors and charge fees. The amount spent in the hope of healing might be just a few hundred thousand dong (buying books, music accounts, etc.), but often it can cost several million to tens of millions of dong (travel, purchasing accounts, 1:1 psychological counseling, etc.), so it seems that healing is a waste of money before it even begins!
To be fair, healing can be seen as a generational need – as people have been stressed out by the unstable realities of life for a long time. In particular, the healing trend has surged after the Covid-19 pandemic – a tsunami that shattered many seemingly stable foundations. Therefore, the emergence of healing services and products is inevitable.
Healing itself implies soothing and transforming negative emotions, thoughts, anxieties, and traumas back to a state of calm, peace, compromise, or contentment with the present, thereby gaining more motivation and self-confidence. Simply put, healing is guiding people towards optimism and positivity.
But the deeper we delve into the "healing market," the more we see deviations. Where there's supply, there's demand, and that demand is indiscriminate and overwhelming, turning healing into a superficial trend, heavily commercialized. Simply talking about healing theory doesn't guarantee healing, nor does listening to empty comforting words necessarily improve mental health and the face of adversity. To avoid wasting money and suffering negative consequences, we need to raise our awareness and understanding to distinguish between genuine and fake, choosing what suits our needs and budget. Ultimately, we must prevent the coaches from being the ones who truly "heal"—profiting handsomely from their services.
