January 19th, 2005
The order of life is really screwed up, if you ask me. You finish high school and are forced to figure out what the heck you’re gonna do with the rest of your life. At eighteen most people aren’t prepared to make that kind of monumental decision… You don’t know yourself yet!
My one and only sibling, a younger brother, just got out of the Navy last fall. He joined up the night of his Senior prom and apart from a nine month stint on our sofa has worked for the military ever since. It was a decent place to hibernate for a while.
Heck, I’m a few years older but I still haven’t figured out what I really want to do with my life. I’ve only come close to figuring it out in the last six months. All the things that I’ve accomplished in my life, so far, were for the sake of survival. I don’t know what it means to live.
I’m amazed by people who grew up so well-adjusted that they knew what they wanted early on, went for it, and then spent the rest of their lives happily enjoying their chosen profession… But then again, I don’t know any of those people. Do you, or is it all a myth?
Poor kid, he’s done with the Navy but still has so many personal issues to sort through – How can he make an effective decision about what to do when he hasn’t even dug up who he is? Impossible. He looks to me for direction, but I know better than to steer him in any direction other than introspection.
It’s a sad system we’ve got going… By the time you figure out who you really are and what you’re here for you’ve already created an alternate self for the sake of getting by. There should be a better way.
Entry Filed under: The Black Hole
12 Comments
1.
Mimi | January 19th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
That makes me so sad. I hate to see KIDS my age enlist in the military. I’ve heard some say are doing it to pay for school. Fuck that! Get a loan. I don’t have family serving in Iraq but people that I graduated high school with are. I feel a rant coming on so I’m gonna stop right there.
I’ll pray for the safety of your brother.
2.
Aurora | January 19th, 2005 at 6:15 pm
Hang in there, Mimi! My brother finished his terms of service, including a stint in the Middle East and is home for good.
3.
Lisa | January 19th, 2005 at 6:41 pm
I know what you mean here. I joined the army about a year after high school thinking it would help me figure things out, but it was just a layover because nothing became apparent in those three years. Eight years later I don’t know any more than I did then. Also regarding whether or not we know anybody who truly has loved their life… I only knew one and he was a proctologist.
4.
Christina | January 19th, 2005 at 6:44 pm
Wow, he’s cute!
You can steer him in my direction for starters.
5.
Grins | January 19th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
I’m smiling at the wonderful photo and then reading your thoughful post when all of a sudden horror strikes. Bill Gates in his circa 1982 cheesecake picture peering at me through a little thumbnail. I think I have hives now.
6.
Jade | January 19th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
I agree with you on that. I truly don’t understand how it is that people actually “live”. I don’t think they do, however. One of my younger brothers lives the sort of life that you spoke of believing was a myth. He’s not happy though. He doesn’t “live” anymore than you or I feel we do. His whole alternate self is consumed with “getting the promotion” “getting that big house” “getting pregnant so they can have their 2.5 kids” so on and so forth. I am not sure that to be totally happy one has to know what they want to do. I don’t know how else to live really, do you?
7.
Cal the Wonderdog | January 19th, 2005 at 8:06 pm
My human almost joined up when he was younger, let’s see that would have been the 70′s. He joined a band instead and saw the world that way much to the chagrin of many around him.
There is no doubt that every human needs a walkabout when they are out of high school. Seems like under the current human leadership of this country, that should not be a person’s first choice. But that’s just this dog’s opinion . . .
8.
Redhead | January 20th, 2005 at 10:22 am
I don’t know if this is a problem for anyone else, but your blog displays part of the text over top of the dark blue area on either side of the pink, and black against dark blue is illegible. Only the pink area can be read, but that is only the center part. Bummer! looks like you have s good site otherwise. I’m using internet explorer.
9.
Justa Dad | January 23rd, 2005 at 10:31 pm
Everyone makes decisions in life, some are good, and some are bad. The “living†part is how you deal with those decisions, and their consequences.
10.
SamKinson | January 26th, 2005 at 9:17 am
Working Class Hero Lyrics
Artist: John Lennon
Album: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
As soon as you’re born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool,
Till you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free,
But you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
There’s room at the top they’re telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be,
If you want to be a hero, well just follow me.
11.
Atomic Bombshell » &hellip | August 8th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
[...] When asked to sum me up, my brother said: What can I say about my sister… She’s kind of like one of those Everlasting Gobstoppers – Sweet, strong, and always changing her taste! [...]
12.
Atomic Bombshell » &hellip | October 11th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
[...] 7. iPod – The best part is the laser inscribed message on the back which reads, “To Kiki With Love From Da Bruver” [...]