I'm surprised I have any friends at all. The more I learn about myself the more I find that I'm an outlier. When I was younger I doubted that my choices were really as wise as I thought they were. Now I don't doubt at all that they were exactly the right move.
Conformity places a huge limit on human potential. The greater the conformity, the harder it is to act outside its bounds. However, those who do act outside its bounds are free of the limits of the majority. Money. Money is something you are going to need. What do we do for money? What must be done for money? Will some work jobs they don't want to, yes. Will some do things they wouldn't otherwise? Absolutely. Why? To trade for something in the future.
When one trades their ability to reflect on their life and express themselves freely, they trade away their potential. Wear this uniform. Live this type of lifestyle. Don't say this, don't say that. Don't do that. You CAN'T do that. Potential lies beyond the can't, beyond the life we currently live, beyond what we look like right now. Freedom is what allows potential to flourish.
I want to dress like an old physicist who is 80 years old. I want to look like a strange abberation in the fabric of the world. When people see me, I don't want the first thing they think to be "Look at that cool guy." Why? Because I don't want to be cool, I want to be free. Free of the expectations of others, free of the limits imposed on me by what I ought to do instead of what I want to do.
You may think I am arrogant. That is fine with me. I care more about being me, than I do about what other people think I am. I am better at being me, than being what others want me to be. David Bowie said " I was determined to have the greatest adventure that any person had ever had." or something like that, in the movie "Moonage Daydream". What is that statement, if not a proclamation of seperateness and otherness from the general public.
Action Bronson said he always knew he was special.
I say my goals out loud and friends and family look worried. They say "be careful". MAybe aim a little lower. Something more reasonable. This is precisely the opposite of what I want. I am trying to concieve of even bigger goals every day, things more ambitios and more impossible. The impossible stuff is always the best to shoot for. And the more widespread the belief that it is impossible, the less competition you have.
“Life can be so much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people who were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
Being relatable is not my goal. The more relatable the more conformist. And also the deeper in the illusion that being "normal" somehow also keeps us safe and makes the future any more visible. The only thing "normal" about normalcy is compliance and fear. If I shatter the mold I cannot be controlled, if I cannot be controlled my infinite potential is instantly acessable to me at any moment.
The man with a new idea is a fool, until the idea works. And I am but a fool, a stumbling failing fool.