The Instafication Machine

You start with a craving. A desire to escape the routine. To travel someplace unfamiliar— but to get there, you first have to pass through the familiar— all the areas you don’t want to go. That’s the first roadblock. The struggle is that you start off stuck on a road toward a craving you can’t fully satisfy. Yet...

That’s the part you have to wrap your head around. In a society perpetually fed by instant gratification, waiting for a payoff feels nearly impossible. We’re conditioned to feel that way. Forever looking for that lift. That hit of satisfaction. Gone are the days of the slog, the waiting game. In are the days of the instafication machine but it’s not what you think. I stare at it in my mind’s eye— no holds barred, no expectations. And it sweeps me away. This is where I tell you more.

An empty break room in corporate America. The lone wolf seeking to make a different sort of impact. There are notes from the CEO. Little memos on the wall. Inspirational quotes. The buzz and hum of the vending machines. And then off in the corner, there’s another machine. It’s not dressed like the others offering drinks, snacks, and ice. There are no buttons to press, nor a wall to plug into. No wireless connection or payment method required. The only cost is grit… experience… the open invitation to create. To curate an experience instantly and in real time.

There’s no AI. No Grammar checker. No one to look over the shoulder. Only a set of hands, a keyboard, and an imagination, each working in tandem with one another. The momentum building, the familiarity returning, the yearning to do something special— to reach others. The machine is you. It’s me. It’s anyone that steps into this realm looking to discover a new place. To think it into existence. And then describe it with words. It’s infectious in the best kind of way. The sort of place that we’d all like to stay.