So, I am following the Freshly Pressed – Blogging 101: Zero to Hero and I already missed a day at Day Three but there was a good reason so don’t worry…
Today I am supposed to tell you all why I decided to first write a blog. And I had to think about this question ALL DAY. Which seems crazy to me, but throughout the past year and a half of trying to blog, the main purpose kind of fell on the wayside. But last night, after thinking all day about a new adventure I may partake in, that would be the scariest thing I ever do, it gave me complete clarity. *ahhh*
I wanted to write a blog those oh, 400 days back, because I wanted a place where my random thoughts, rants, and raves about society, my life, and the world, where someone could possibly read it, or not, and it wouldn’t be this ridiculous FB comment on some issue everyone wants to say something about. This is my space. Albeit, it’s public, but that just gives it a nice little edge I think 😉 The biggest difference between NOW and THEN is that I have changed over the course of a year, things I was more passionate about then are now in the back of my mind, replaced by new thoughts and ideals.
Also, my fantasy about becoming a travel writer may be .0000001% closer if I try and write something every few days, but that dream is for another day…
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Thought Bubble
Why is the world the way it is? Why do millions of people, NO billions, of people waste their lives away on jobs they hate? As Americans at least, we are legitimately trained from a young age to be cogs in a machine. We are taught Standardized Lessons where if you do not perfectly fit into this box then there is something wrong with you. We are taught to wake up early, sit inside, and listen to someone tell us how to read, write, talk, play, and live. Teachers are not allowed to change the standardized lesson, unless they get approval from someone higher up in the education system. Our children are being factory taught and molded, and if there is an outsider, maybe a quiet and shy, or wild and crazy child, there is a problem.
That is a problem! We are not teaching our children how to use their imaginations, think for themselves, and find what they personally love. And THEN after years of this, (albeit, high school is a tad better) we tell them at 18, let me repeat that, EIGHTEEN, years old that they need to somehow pick what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Oh and spend thousands of dollars doing it. And THEN they maybe find something interesting enough to major in, and then waste 2 years in GENERAL EDUCATION classes which are exactly the same classes you took in high school, like exactly.
Then basically college is a little better because you have the freedom for the most part to pick when your classes are and your teachers (kind of), etc. But it’s pretty much the same song a dance, certain tests, homework, times, and all indoors, never outside, never actually to a physical place where people are applying what you learn. Rarely actually applying what you learn because apparently in America we value “theoretical knowledge” over “practical knowledge” which actually I still can’t quite wrap my head around.
Then you graduate, spend all this time finding an internship or a job to get experience to make money. And then, you waste away your young years when you should be exploring and finding yourself, to working in a cold, windowless office, doing work you hate, and hating how you spend the daylight hours. All for what? To buy more things?….Side note- I am the biggest culprit of everything I’ve said. But this one is the worst. Working a job I hate, but make good money, to save up to do things I want, and then spend it on crap….end side note 
I understand what some of you are thinking, stop complaining and ranting and do it yourself. Steve Jobs did it, Taylor Swift did it, Mark Freaking Zuckerberg did it, so can you. Which is totally true, and what people tell me when I complain about this to their face. But the only thing is, everyone is different, in a million ways, and some people need guidance. Some people really took in what they were always told to do, and didn’t rebel against the system as a child or a teen, and then all the sudden they are supposed to make every decision, and don’t forget, that every decision you make will dictate your life. HOW THE H*LL are we supposed to know how to do that?!
Then maybe, maybe you actually make your truly own decision once, after everyone tells you over and over to do that and to follow your dreams and to be brave, and THEN you tell them the decision and they throw it back in your face! It’s too dangerous, it’s too hard, the economy is bad, how will you do this and that and this other thing? I DONT KNOW THAT”S KIND OF THE POINT.
I just saw a comedy performance by Aziz Ansari in Sacramento a few weeks ago (amazing by the way, seriously amazing) where in it he talks about his parents hardships in coming to America from India, not knowing anyone, the language, anything. And he tells us about how his mother was describing it to him, and during one part, says “You know what I mean. That kind of struggle where your whole life is ripped apart and you have no idea what to do, and you know it will be hard, but you have no other choice.” and he stares at us in the crowd relaying this, and says “And I thought, NO. I actually have never in my life endured something even a tenth that hard…” goes into joke. Which he made hilarious. But his point is so true. Our generation (middle to upper class that is) have no idea what real struggle is. I for one have no idea. And that is a problem. We have no idea how to deal with real hardship, and decisions, and scary life changes. We have no idea how to be completely alone, or have complete silence, or how to be bored.
And after writing all this, I’m unsure what the main source is. Whether it be the school system, parenting, technology, etc. But all I know is, something needs to change because they are all connected. And I have been caught in the system my whole life, wanting to get out, but then when I actually could escape, I stay in the cage. It’s hard to break the mold that holds you.
XoXo
The Philosopher's Zone 