Comments | ant_forster: When I grow up...

ant_forster

When I grow up...

Apr 16, 2010 00:09

...I'm going to be a conservationist, seamstress, AND a circus performer. I'm not going to live in a boring old house with a boring old job- I'm going to go on adventures, constantly change my life, and never fall into a routine life. I have to- because mediocrity is the worst thing ever. It's my biggest fear, more than dying itself. As silly as it ( Read more... )

fear, plan, monotony

Comments 7

odontomachus April 16 2010, 00:05:08 UTC

Pfft. Strut and fret all you like, but there's a reason all these things - "cubicle farms" etc - exist, and that's because that's what life is. In a world of seven billion nobody is going to stand out or be remembered, and it's better to be comfortable than to be dead. Reality is only boring to some disdainful unsatisfied fuck who only knows life from TV caricatures and Fight Club, and has probably never gone beyond their thirty tabs of /r9k/ bitching about how shallow everything is with a bunch of other self-absorbed cunts.

Everybody settles.

Everybody.

ant_forster April 16 2010, 12:28:11 UTC

Sorry Jeremy but I don't agree with you one bit. I guess it depends on your definition of settling. I agree that life can't be all adventures and fun- everyone needs to get a job to have a house and live comfortably- but it definitely doesn't need to be a cubicle job. Those jobs do need to be filled by someone- but there are people who LIKE routine and stability, and they're much better suited to fill those jobs than I am.
I agree that it's better to be comfortable than dead (ofc) but I wouldn't be comfortable in a life like that, much less happy. I may have to settle, but if I can settle into a life where my job can change frequently, or I can perform for the circus after-hours, or I can leave a legacy of conservation work behind me, then I'm okay with settling. Settling isn't so much the problem I suppose, it's settling with a less than satisfactory life that I can't stand the thought of.

etherealeisure January 21 2011, 06:26:16 UTC

I got the idea that this was mostly about the lack of passion. I agree, and I think too many people are lazy. It is better to be busy and interesting because there is so much more to do with life than attending work.
If more people were passionate, I don't think we'd all be so damn miserable.

skyewishes April 16 2010, 01:32:37 UTC

Hmm, I recognize where you're coming from, but I feel that we.. who are a little further down the eccentric side of the scale, can be too quick to judge.

For some people, ordinariness is a masquerade, it helps them survive the outside world while they live rich inner lives and pursue their strange passions in private. For others, survival itself is not something so easily taken for granted. I have met dull middle class Australians who grew up in Eastern Europe and the very fact they can afford a house and nice food to cook is the height of luxury. They aren't settling, they feel so lucky. You also get sleepers, people who follow the program until something wakes them up, shocks them in to awareness of life and all its possibilities. Not all of us reach this stage so early but I like to think everyone is capable of it.

So yes, yes, yes to your way of life. Just let everyone else find their own ways of coping and maybe forgive them for it? I know its hard, especially when the world seems full of screaming babies some days.

ant_forster April 16 2010, 12:17:41 UTC

I see what you mean, and I agree. I guess having a routine is good for some people- like you said, some lead rich inner lives, and some are grateful for the comfort. And I'm sorry if it came across as an attack on other people's way of life- I didn't write this myself or edit it at all, so I can see that it sounds harsh. I am in full support of every person leading out the lives they want and are happy with- some people, that IS settling down. Just... not for me, certainly.

blondedebates April 16 2010, 09:37:23 UTC

I totally agree with you! I used to believe in this so hard. So hard in fact that when I was 18 I was convinced that I was going to kill myself at a big party with all my friends present at 35 because I honestly couldn't see the point of life past that age XD ( ... )

ant_forster April 16 2010, 12:27:09 UTC

Haha, I used to think being 35 was the end of spontaneity too. Now I've met enough fantastic, exciting people of that age (including my beautiful aerial silks teacher, Rada) that I know better! I don't think growing old is to do with age, I consider 'growing up' as 'growing boring'. So my aim is to never do that, basically ( ... )