Mission

Goatbacteriophobia is your online home for short stories, commentary, andinner incoherent ramblings of Mark Niland in his quest to build creative commeradery and the power of friendship.

So you might ask: what is this all for? Am I trying so hard to stay relevant in a constantly changing world? Do I feel the passage of time with every bone in my body body wondering “what’s the point” on a Monday afternoon? Do I miss the connections I had with my friends I met along the way who made the type of person I am today and cherish the yearning and wonder a past version of myself has the ability to chase once again? While I may answer yes to some if not most of these questions depending on the day or position I am in life, I feel the need to take a step away from what is universally acclaimed in connecting with folks and friends alike via the web- the dreaded scroll whenever you’re done performing a scene in “Life” at 5pm on a Tuesday. Modicums of modern online interactions have gone sour with the over-reliance on bite-sized, spoon-fed content that castrates an audience’s ability to absorb the mechanisms of igniting critical thought, reflect on the shape(s) content takes hold on us, and possibly comprehend and repurpose the exponential voluminous swaths of data our minds absorb every second of our existence.

Goatbacteriophobia is a passion product to exclaim that we played it too safe by clinging to the margins, content to exist in echo chambers where nuance is lost. By being too dependent on the shallow life aesthetic on your everyday Pinterest board, we meticulously curate an image of perfection while ignoring the depth of real experiences. We risk becoming mere spectators of our own lives, leading stars in our own private movies with nobody to share screen time with, and mimicking the person next to us rather than embracing our unique narratives. Life is about the chase of spectacle and what is captivating to view, to experience—a sensation of ravenous addiction.

Yet this relentless pursuit of superficiality robs us of meaningful connections and profound understandings of our own cognition, as well as our ability to heal isolation, which we can only partake in through engaging in the creative process and showcasing our own enrichment as human beings, own own histories. We must reclaim the richness of dialogue and emotive storytelling, engaging with the complexities of ideas that challenge us and inspire growth, fostering not only a deeper appreciation for art and dialogue but also sparking the kind of conversations that can heal divides across lives but by ushering from an era of thinking into doing.