I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Author Merrie Reagan On Why So Many Of Us Are Feeling Unsatisfied & What We Can Do About It
An Interview With Drew Gerber
Realize that goodwill-kindness, respect and cooperation-is the foundation of all relationships, and that goodwill holds relationships together in each and all circumstances. In other words, it is enough to be kind, considerate, and cooperative in every situation.
From an objective standpoint, we are living in an unprecedented era of abundance. Yet so many of us are feeling unsatisfied. Why are we seemingly so insatiable? What is going on inside of us that is making us feel unsatisfied? What is the brain chemistry that makes us feel this way? Is our brain wired for endless insatiable consumption? What can we do about it? In this interview series, we are talking to credentialed experts such as psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, brain science experts, as well as spiritual and religious leaders, and mind-body-spirit coaches, to address why so many of us are feeling unsatisfied & what we can do about it.
As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Merrie Reagan.
Former educational tutor, small business owner, and part-time freelance news and feature article writer, Merrie H. Reagan resides in America, in the state of Massachusetts. She savors reading, writing, ballroom dancing, singing, homemaking, and yard work. Merrie watches varied public and network television programs, including All Things Bright and Beautiful, Call the Midwife, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, CBS Sunday Morning, and Funny You Should Ask. Her new book is Life Flashes: A Memoir (Stillwater River Publications, February 2022).
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! What brain chemistry is causing people to be consistently dissatisfied with life?
It is interesting that you questioned what brain chemistry is causing people to be consistently dissatisfied with life. Dissatisfaction comes from being overly focused on self or others, from being preoccupied with past or yet to come events. When one is overly focused on these circumstances, brain chemicals naturally respond to this false life perspective and, in doing so, become naturally imbalanced. Without primary dependence on a Divine being, whether one defines this Supernatural being as God or Allah or Spiritual Enlightenment or a Transcendent Being, one cannot fully mature.
Numerous research studies have shown that people who are truly content-experiencing inner peace-are people who believe in a being beyond self, one who unconditionally loves and knows all in ways beyond imagining; people who believe in a being beyond self and trust that a Divine love is present everywhere, including within self, and that Divine love is moving them through and beyond all life circumstances. In short, people are dissatisfied because they do not realize that dependence on Divinity or God does not render one being weak. In fact, dependence on God is what enables a person to be fully independent.
What lessons would you share with yourself if you had an opportunity to meet your younger self?
There is no such thing as “arriving,” regardless of the size or kind of shelter in which one resides, what kind of car one drives, where one was educated, whether one is married or not, what income one earns, etc., etc., etc. These situations are accidents; one may live in a house, one may not. One may own or drive a car; one may not. One may or may not be married or engaged in a personal relationship of friendship, companionship, marriage, girl or guy friendship, soul brotherhood or soul sisterhood, or one may not be doing so. What truly matters is who one is and remains amid continually changing life circumstances.
Is there a particular person that you have met along the way that has been particularly helpful to you?
There is not any person whom I have met while journeying through life who has not helped me. Every day, people connect and reconnect with one another. Boundaries are intended to be established in all relationships as a means of clarifying human strengths and weaknesses. Without boundaries, relationships falter.
Experiencing rejection within a personal or professional relationship is a natural occurrence; it is an opportunity for a person or persons to redefine the boundaries of the relationship, or in other words how love within the relationship will be expressed.
Rejecting one manner of expressing a relationship means acceptance with another manner of sharing the relationship. Without each and all persons in a personal or professional relationship being confident that leaving a relationship or changing the way a relationship is expressed is allowable, for sound reasons, the personal or professional relationship becomes unhealthy.
Are you working on any exciting projects now?
Yes, I recently finished writing a second edition of Life Flashes: A Memoir, a work in diary form that was composed over a fourteen-year period and written while employing a pen name, Merrie Reagan. Life Flashes: A Memoir involves author interactions with national, local, personal, and animal figures.
It is a story of recovery beyond illness, unemployment, and broken relationships. It is a testament demonstrating that profound love remains amid and beyond life circumstances. Summarized in five words, Life Flashes: A Memoir is about Promise, Suffering, and Unimaginable Love. While being written, it was regularly sprinkled with good humor.
What is the brain wiring within us that has made us insecure?
Part of the “brain wiring,” so to speak, that has influenced people becoming increasingly insecure is the false belief that life is about “The One”-the one person, place, or thing that fulfills all of the desires of a person. News Flash: There is no such thing as the One. This reality does not in any way permit violations of established boundaries within relationships, which are also intended to be regularly re-examined. It does mean that whether people live in the same house or home, people everywhere meet new people every day, and in doing so establish new relationships with boundaries, and then move on to meet another new person/s or re-connect with people within existing relationships.
How can marketing professionals be more responsible for how their advertising shapes human health and experience happiness overall?
Marketing professionals can be increasingly responsible for advertising campaigns by focusing or continuing to focus the campaigns on universal truth, respect for differences, and cooperation rather than trendy fads and profit gains. Someone once wisely said, “Do what you love, and the rest (including monetary profit) will come.”
Do you feel as though you have enough in life?
Though not being a regular church goer, I have received riches beyond imagining through faith. God has taught and continues to teach me how to be content, amid each and all life circumstances.
Five Things We Can Do to Address the Feelings of Not Having Enough
1. Acknowledge that life is not essentially about what one thinks or feels. Life is about who one is internally amid continually changing circumstances. Life does include what one thinks and feels.
2. Acknowledge that one cannot experience true success, aka inner peace, without being dependent on Divinity and that, miraculously, being dependent on Divinity enables one to be truly independent, truly at peace, whether one is facing triumphant, tragic, or somewhere in between these two circumstances.
3. Dwelling on past experiences or future desires are symptoms of mental and emotional illness. The way to move beyond the past and to deal with what is yet to come, is to live in the present: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a present; this is why it is called a gift.
4. Realize that goodwill-kindness, respect and cooperation-is the foundation of all relationships, and that goodwill holds relationships together in each and all circumstances. In other words, it is enough to be kind, considerate, and cooperative in every situation.
5. Without humor, there is no faith. Losing a sense of humor about life is one of the first signs that one has become ill. For example, what do dentists call x-rays? Tooth pics.
What are some books, movies, or resources that have inspired you?
One of the books that I have recently read is Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan. It is a story about a man who as a teenager, while living in Italy in WWII years, was guiding Jewish people escaping persecution through the Italian Alps to freedom in countries accepting Jewish refugees. Although the book genre is historical fiction, it is largely based on a true story.
Becoming a ballroom dance student changed me permanently. Being a ballroom dance student has not only taught me invaluable dance lessons, but also fascinating posture and balance concepts, nutritional habits, and how to effectively socialize, while not forgetting the value of solitude.
Adopting a dog and caring for the dog for nearly ten years enabled me to experience unconditional love in a manner that I will not ever experience unconditional love again. Caring for any animal on any level is another way to experience the presence and love of God.
If I could start a movement, what would that movement be?
I have started and am continuing a movement based on the words of the song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let it Begin with Me.” All humanity has started and is continuing a movement every day. How? All of us send forth who we are internally every day. Who we are internally reaches around the world daily. Do I know how this occurs? I do not. Knowing how this happens is not necessary. That it does happen is a universal truth based on recalling thousands of years of faith of human ancestors, in addition to acknowledging faith of people around me in the present, and believing in the presence of faith in yet to come occurrences.
How can readers continue to follow you online?
Life Flashes: A Memoir, written by me, is being released in a new edition mid to late August of this year. The work was written using the pen name Merrie Reagan. Below is a book synopsis:
This genre-bending book is a stunning combination of diary, memoir, biography, and spiritual commentary, all woven together over a fourteen-year period. It is a testament which demonstrates that profound love remains amidst and beyond all life circumstances. Good and witty humor regularly surfaces in the book.
Ms. Reagan invites readers to undergo a literary journey with her as she undergoes a profound and brief life-changing experience in 2007, which precipitates her alternately traveling back in time-as far back as the 1960’s-reconnecting with teenage, young adult, mid-life, and late mid-life experiences, and then moving forward into senior years. She interacts with national, local, personal, and animal figures, and provides historical context for these interactions. Summarized with five words, Life Flashes: A Memoir is a story about Promise, Suffering and Unimaginable Love. It is a book that will be worth reading fifty years from now.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world. Schedule a free consultation at WasabiPublicity.com/Choosing-Publicity.
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Author Merrie Reagan On Why So Many Of Us Are Feeling Unsatisfied &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.