Existing in 2026 is expensive, and I’m not just talking about the price of eggs.
You go to a restaurant and there’s a 4% healthcare surcharge. You grab a coffee and the iPad flips around with a 25% suggestion before the barista has even turned on the machine. I went to the gas station the other day to grab a bottle of water, walked to the fridge, grabbed it myself, brought it to the counter, and the screen asked me for a 20% tip. A tip… for what exactly? For me doing the labor of locating the water?
It’s become the culture. Everywhere we turn, there is an unearned expectation of more. Public existence has its own version of this inflation and I am coining it the Aesthetic Tax.
The Aesthetic Tax is the invisible, mandatory gratuity we pay for the privilege of existing publicly in a digital-first world. It is the surplus of time, energy, and mental labor spent re-packaging a moment you’ve already lived and loved just to make it acceptable for public consumption.
It is characterized by the Double-Billing of Life: You pay the first time when you experience the moment (the presence), and you pay a second time (at a much higher interest rate) when you attempt to curate it and repackage it.
I did an audit on my own Aesthetic Tax and the “receipt” for a single week of curation as a Creator who doesn’t even go that hard was embarrassing:
The Isolation Surcharge: If I’m posting, I’m not present. If I’m present, I’m not posting. This creates an eerie binary where my memories are either “content” or “wasted opportunities.”
Secondary Experience Labor: I’m working double shifts for experiences I already finished. Spending 4 hours editing a 60-second reel is time stolen directly from my sleep, my loved ones, or my next actual idea.
The Sunk Cost of Self-Doubt: This is the most expensive part. When you invest 100% of your care into a meticulously color-graded post and the algorithm grants you a 0% return, it turns into a crisis of worth. You feel bankrupt because the exchange rate for perception is a scam.
We are spending our time to buy Perception and the exchange rate is a scam. The math ain’t mathing.
In any economy, value is driven by scarcity. For the last decade, “perfection” was the rare commodity. It required high-end gear, professional editing, and a dedicated team. But in 2026, the market is flooded. We have reached Peak Aesthetic Saturation. Everyone has a g7x, the same clothes, the same “minimalist” apartment, and the same curated dumps. The supply of “perfect” has officially outpaced the demand.
Because of that, an Aesthetic ($ASTEC) is a depreciating asset. We are working harder than ever to produce a product that the market is increasingly bored with. We are spending a lot of time to produce Low-Value Content. That’s a horrible trade.
From a supply and demand perspective, the only thing that is actually scarce right now is Unfiltered Presence. While the rest of the world is bullish on $ASTEC and $BRND (Branding) I am shorting the market. I’m pulling my investment out of the “Second Experience” and putting it into the Primary Market aka my actual life.
I saw a comment about Megan Thee Stallion recently that serves as the perfect data point for this shift. Megan has been posting a lot of imperfect content lately and less about music. Me personally, I love it. But someone said they "don’t know what Megan’s brand is anymore" and that she’s "all over the place." This was my response :
When did “being yourself” become a commodity? since when does just existing require a brand strategy? It feels like we’ve reached this dystopian point where your personality is only as valuable as its marketability. and that’s sad.
But if you actually look, she isn’t “all over the place”… her brand is just mirroring her life, as it should. She’s into anime. She’s doing Broadway. She’s in a healthy relationship and cooking for her man. She loves food. She’s making a cartoon. Most people spend their entire lives doing what they HAVE to do, so doing exactly what you WANT to do is the ultimate luxury. I don’t think people have caught on to that yet. They mistake her lo-fi content and freedom for a lack of focus because they’re still stuck paying the "consistency" tax that so many creatives have stopped paying 5-6 years ago.
The most expensive thing you can own is a personality that isn’t for sale.
Being "all over the place" isn't a fail if you are happy with the way your life feels.
In order for me to show up consistently to the point where it doesn’t effect my quality of life offline and my mental health, I have to intentionally lower my perfectionism by 15%. Sounds dramatic, but its the truth. I have to trade that last bit of “polish” for the courage to be seen. I heard Emma Grede speak about this during her Aspire event last fall, and it’s stuck with me ever since.
“Pick the things you truly care about. Make sure those are done well and never compromised. But for everything else? Get comfortable with those things being 85% done. Otherwise, you’ll never get anything done at all.”
“Care” is a finite resource. You only have so much of it to give before you start running on empty. I am choosing to preserve my care for the things that need it and actually yield a return on my soul.
If I added up the hours I spent overthinking the song that went with my carousel, or which photo would be first in my dump and instead investing that energy into the things that actually build a life: calling my parents, re-organizing my closet, planning my next vacation, etc. I would be so much more happier.
My future deserves my 100% effort; my feed is getting the 85%. I’m done paying the tax. I’d rather be “all over the place” and actually present for my own life than be perfectly curated and completely absent.
I do want to make it clear that I am not advocating for a lack of excellence.
To stay consistent and continue on my run, I’m stripping my content down to three pillars. If it’s not one of these, I’m not wasting my time :
New Information: Something that cracks the brain open.
Soul-Deep Personality: If my spirit isn’t seeping through the phone, it stays in the camera roll.
Portal-Like Music: The sound has to transport me, or it’s a no.
I’m done trying to be a recognizable icon for people I’ll never meet. I’d rather be “all over the place” and actually present for my own life.
I am not a brand to be managed; I am a human being to be experienced.
What will you do with your Aesthetic Refund Check?
I’ll see you in the comment section.
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