In my day-to-day experience of employment at a small market research firm which I shall keep nameless, I see people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and educational backgrounds, who seem content in mediocrity and displacement. They are not happy with where they are, but they are not compelled to move forward or change.
It reminds me of a Woody Allen movie where he talks about change. It doesn’t remind of the specific quote*1, as I cannot for the life of me remember it and a Google search proved fruitless. But yes, in a nutshell he said that change is terrifying and to avoid it at all costs because only bad things will eventuate *2.
It reminds me of a Woody Allen movie where he talks about change. It doesn’t remind of the specific quote*1, as I cannot for the life of me remember it and a Google search proved fruitless. But yes, in a nutshell he said that change is terrifying and to avoid it at all costs because only bad things will eventuate *2.
The epitome of wisdom
Now if this is the life philosophy my fellow comrades have adopted, I feel they are missing certain elements of truth in this statement:
1) He was [partially] joking.
2) He was referring to the little changes that arise each day that serve as clogs in our daily habitual life-style, and does admit in a book of his (actually a book of interviews with him called…?) that sometimes the BIG changes are necessary.
One of my favourite movies is Vanilla Sky (2001).
Yes. I know, please don’t repeat the predictable, I just don’t care.
Watch it [again]. I dare you.
Right at the end of the film Tommy repeats a line previously uttered by Penny earlier –
“Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.”
Now in the context of Vanilla Sky, Tom was about to leap off a 50-storey building into the real world as he had been in a dream state for a hundred years, and obviously this won’t be happening to you anytime soon, but the specific point remains.
Our lives are not determined. Our feet are not locked in cement. But every day I see people who seem willing to plant their lives in the field of complacency, and even worse, these same people telling me I should be doing the same.
And I say - “NO SIR, I SHALL NOT!”
Whether or not anyone else gives a rats ass about my fate is ultimately meaningless, because I am the only predetermined factor of my future existence, and if I listen to THEM I will no longer be myself, I will be THEM and that is more terrifying than the black abyss of The Unknown.
Now I realize that the lame metaphors have been piled on a little too thick, but they helped me formulate my thoughts into some kind of discernible logic so I don’t care!
My friend Chris used to always say (and probably still does) that life’s a comedy, you gotta laugh. And I couldn’t agree more. As much as it may seem that I take myself much too seriously, I honestly don’t (I swear), I simply feel the extreme urge to follow my gut, and cannot relate to anyone who acts otherwise. If life is short why are we all so freakin' negative?
Our lives are not determined. Our feet are not locked in cement. But every day I see people who seem willing to plant their lives in the field of complacency, and even worse, these same people telling me I should be doing the same.
And I say - “NO SIR, I SHALL NOT!”
Whether or not anyone else gives a rats ass about my fate is ultimately meaningless, because I am the only predetermined factor of my future existence, and if I listen to THEM I will no longer be myself, I will be THEM and that is more terrifying than the black abyss of The Unknown.
Now I realize that the lame metaphors have been piled on a little too thick, but they helped me formulate my thoughts into some kind of discernible logic so I don’t care!
My friend Chris used to always say (and probably still does) that life’s a comedy, you gotta laugh. And I couldn’t agree more. As much as it may seem that I take myself much too seriously, I honestly don’t (I swear), I simply feel the extreme urge to follow my gut, and cannot relate to anyone who acts otherwise. If life is short why are we all so freakin' negative?
We are SCARED. (hence my previous post regarding the noughties)
Joe Vs. The Volcano (1990)
Watch it if you feel like breaking out of your shell
*1 don’t you just hate those people who can remember every Woody Allen and Simpsons quotes word for word. Although if someone repeats another Family Guy line for me I may just bitch-slap them to death.
*2 I just realized while finishing this post that there perhaps is no Woody Allen quote about change, except for this one: “I do not believe in an afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear.” Here here.
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