Society's "Normalcies"...

[DragonGirl724]

Is it just me or are there other people absolutly fed up with the routine of what society deems as "Normal" and "Productive" and "What you SHOULD do with your life"..???

From the day you are born society is expecting something from you...to one day become one of the crowd, go to college, & work a 9-5 job which you will probably despise going to just to make ends meet.

If you are one of the lucky few that actually love their jobs consider yourself blessed. If you are lucky enough to travel & be free from life's pressures, even for a little while, consider yourself not only lucky, but be honored as well. To "stop & smell the roses" as the rest of the overworked & underpaid world scurries around you & cursing you out for "making them late" or "getting in their way", is a pretty bitter sweet experience.

Picture this: To have the sweet opportunity to be able to throw away your cell phone, fall off the planet for a little while and not worry about some 'very important business call' or some other aspect of society's irrelevant stresses...

To just be able to breath in a gentle fresh ocean breeze & exhale your urgencies....to walk barefoot across sunshine days....

It's best said through The Shawshank Redemption:

ANDY: Think you'll ever get out of here?

RED: Sure. When I got a long white beard and about three marbles left rolling around upstairs.

ANDY: Tell you where I'd go. Zihuatanejo.

RED: Zihuatanejo?

ANDY: Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I'd like to finish out my life, Red. A warm place with no memory. Open a little hotel right on the beach. Buy some worthless old boat and fix it up like new. Take my guests out charter fishing.

[i]...ANDY: To look at the stars just after sunset. Touch the sand. Wade in the water. Feel free.

RED: God**** it, Andy, stop! Don't do that to yourself! Talking ****** pipedreams! Mexico's down there, and you're in here, and that's the way it is!

ANDY: You're right. It's down there, and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.


....thats what I'M talkin about.

I know someone who has lived that life, and like all things it had its Ups & it had it's Downs..the only difference is, that it had more Ups than downs.

It's sad that most of us will never allow ourselves to "feel free", for the fear of breaking out of 'the norm' is way too strong....

dont wait until you "got a long white beard and have about three marbles left rolling around upstairs." to start living....

heck, i should take my own advice....


I don't know why I posted this really, but it felt damn good to let out.

-DG724

[ubertoast]

reminds me of the Stranger by Albert Camus. Society expects people to fallow certain guide lines people just take for granted. You pretty much explained them. Going to school, college, work. But theres more than that. People expect certain things from an individual, but what is the limit. For example, should one risk his life for an others, or such. But you could for example expecet someone to call 911 if a shooting happens in your neighborhood. But what to think about people who don't do such things? are they considered outsiders? or just people who want stuff to go as they want to, and not be integrated into society.

[Day_Walker]

I think its all about perspective, of course breaking the norm seems ideal but that is a thought that seems to cross most peoples minds. The reality is that people really dont want that. The idea is that we give up the simple life to have a life filled with things that we want. Commercialism is our goal not just to live life simple and not be trapped in a viscious cycle of boredem with our lives.

If you want to break the mold then feel free but realize the implications of your actions. Anyone has the opportunity to live life simply but we just get wrapped up in other things becuase we feel that money and material objects are important. You should never be affraid to try something different just because society frowns upon it doesnt mean that it doesnt have to be done or that you shouldnt do it. It is your life and all you can do is live it.

[brando]

i think their is a certain amount of acceptance involved in order to enjoy the normalicies of life. One can follow that road and still walk barefoot through the sunshine etc....


What we reist will persist.

[DragonGirl724]

interesting replies.

for example if you were to choose between the place youd like to reside for a little while for both inner peace, experience & change, yet you are very close to your family & friends & that place, that 'haven', is on the other side of the world, which would you choose?

this also includes quitting your job & finding a new place of employment.

then what would you do?

-DG724

[Gunther]

Life is what you make of it, you can do whatever you choose to, what is amazing though is how few people realize that you really can live whatever life you choose to. To live the type of life you want to you just have to know what you want and go for it, if your hope is to travel the world, then you just have to figure out what you need and how to get it. It may seem like a pipe dream, but because the world is what it is today, it is very possible to live almost any pipe dream you may care to have. As for social norms, I can't help you there, I chose to ignore them so long, I couldn't say at the moment. I never really felt pressured to go to college ect, people just had there opinions on what I should do, and I took them into consideration and chose for myself.

[brando]

i guess it is like Robert Frost once wrote, Home is th place for when you go their they have to take you in....


It is a great question, because it also plays on ones fears and living life commited to those fears of trying new things.

If you are asking everyone personally then my answer i could not present at this time.

[jurupa]

What is normal?

Normal to one person may be viewed as unnormal to someone else. Just becuase society says something doesn't mean you have to do it nor does it mean it fits you. To me my life with all the ups and downs is normal to me, but to someone else they will view it as abnormal life style and some may consider it unhealthy one at that.

[shes2smart]

Normal is a town in Illinois.

I dunno. This seems like something that hasn't been much of a struggle for me. I've pretty much always done whatever I got it in my head to do, other people's opinions be damned.

At 15, I decided I wanted to be a radio DJ. The other kids I went to school with thought I was weird. I ignored them...I knew where I wanted to be. The teachers/guidance counselor said if I wanted to do that, I should take the public speaking courses and be on the debate team. I shrugged and said no thanks and graduated early. My parents thought (hoped!) it was just a phase. It wasn't.

At 18, I had my own show at my college's radio station. By the time I was 19 I got my first "real" (i.e. paying) gig and have been continuously employed being a professional smart-a** ever since.

So, there I was, at my 10 year high school reunion. Single, had never been married, there by myself figuring I'd still be the weird chick of the bunch...no matter to me, I've always figured if people are going to stare, I'll be happy to give them something to stare AT. The night was filled with a steady stream of my former classmates coming up to me and telling me how something I had said, did or written during high school had stuck with them all these years. I heard of many classmates who had gone through marriage #1, divorce #1 and were working on marriage #2 (and we were all only 28!!!!).

I looked at the name tags of people who I spoke to that night, and very few of them rang a bell. They all looked older than me (and that phenomenon was even more pronounced at our 20 year reunion). Very few of them seemed happy....well, until they got a few drinks in them anyway.

If that's what trying to be "normal" and accepted gets you....well, I'm glad I was the weird one in high school.

I won't even get into the go-against-the-grain-ness of actively pursuing a BDSM/Master-slave relationship as an adult. None of us has that kinda time.

Suffice to say that I believe those who follow the whispers of their own souls rather than the screaming of ads, TV, pop culture, other people, movies, and all other sources outside of themselves end up having much happier and satisfying lives than those who do what they're "supposed" to do.

[DragonGirl724]

shes2smart,

yea thats awesome. and i am like you fortunate enough to be able to do what i love (art) and be successful at it, running my own freelance business since i was in highschool. its a great sense of accomplishment, i guess i always had this humble, simple ideal life (even just for a little bit) to live by the ocean where I can hear the leaves of palm trees shuffeling in the breeze, the waves gently crashing onto the shore at sunset and the bows of sail boats clanking against the pier...and not to mention the best sound of all.........silence. a place where i can plug in a laptop & do some freelance work anywhere in the world i choose to be when i need the money and a place where i can prop an easel onto the sandy landscape & paint.

am i a dreamer...or selfish to want this for myself...even if it means leaving my country & those i care about...??? honestly.

-DG724