Some people find joy in major achievements. Graduating college. Publishing their first novel. Getting their driver’s license. Moving out, and move in to their own apartment. Getting married. All of them are amazing achievements, for sure, and I am not here to downplay that. But I often found myself in this exact conversation, starting with this same, tiring question; Why don’t you work towards that? Why spend most of your time researching bugs? Gazing at trains? Staring at air planes? Playing video games? Making YouTube videos? Why not do something actually productive, and important? Work towards a meaningful future?
*Brief pause, sigh*
They call them obsessions. They call them a waste of time. They call them brainrotting. Stupid. Un-important. Meaningless….. Addictions. Some even call it… a phase.
*Another brief silence*
Do you wanna know what I see? I see the intricate details in a beatle’s wings. I see a technological marvel soaring through the sky every single day. A mechanical beast of solid metal, transfering people across our entire country at insane speeds. I enter a world where I get to feel like the hero. And I even learn an incredibly valuable skill, that taught me everything I know about film production today. What they think is a waste of time, I believe makes me more alive.
They are hobbies and interests that keep me going. Hobbies that excite me every time I get back into them. They may not seem important to some people. But to me, there’s something beautiful, and exciting about every bug I see. Every plane that soars by. Every video I make. And yes, every poem I write. It gives me something to put my mind to. It gives me something to forget about all the sorrow and darkness of our world….. it makes me happy.
So they can all keep their cars, their mansions, or college degrees, if that makes them happy. I’ll continue gazing in awe at the amazing creatures of planet Earth. I’ll continue writing poems, and making YouTube videos. And I will continue doing all the things I love doing. If anyone has a problem with that, and feel the need to put me down over it, just so they can feel better…. at least I can proudly say I live a happier life.
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