kind of a continuation of a previous post i made in here awhile back.
I feel like Nio waking from the Matrix, Dorothy falling down the rabbithole, like that dude from the great gatsby having finally made it big realizing he’ll never be apart of this world he see’s, like…you get the idea.
one big problem here is just this…i was pretty much raised by tv/movies/the internet, and i’v spent such an …unhealthily… amount of time alone through my developing years and beyond (an american otaku i guess) that…as I make all these references to movies and shit i relate to…i start to doubt even myself, i’v done some psychedelics in the past so i know how fragile the human psyche can be.
on top of that, if anyone here is familiar with Alan Watts…I feel now exactly has he describes people who are “awakened” (i know he’s an entertainer first…just saying his lectures describe how i feel lately exactly)
I can’t help but feel like…there are a lot of basic things I should know, a lot of things people seem to take as so basic they don’t need explaining, while others seem to completely avoid these same things like the very idea of looking at objective measurable truth threatens their very existence. but again…i doubt my own eyes and ears so what judge am i of objective measurable truth
imagine if you will an innocent little boy from the midwest, who had no father figure of note and whose mother was too busy working non-stop to feed/cloth/house him, that she never really got into the weeds of raising him. and imagine if this boy somehow made it to his late 20’s before…well, before losing his innocence as they say. but he’s so unsure of his own self that he doesn’t know where his problems end (because there obviously is something wrong with him/his brain) and which are just…a natural reaction to a fucked up society. hell…what if there isnt anything wrong with my head and this is this just…me coming out of a decades long addiction/escapism spiral or something?
so here’s the question…
what things should this boy have been taught? what basic facts of life is everyone else working on they’re not?
(please don’t worry for my health or anything…I uh…i’m pretty sure I’m going to check into some kind of wellness/rehab facility soon)
So, are you wanting practical basics, esoterics, or both?
Practical:
(Obviously ignore this advice if you’re rich.)
Learn basics. I was taught cooking, cleaning, how to properly do laundry, basic electrical wiring, basic home repairs (attach things to studs, how to patch drywall, etc), and sewing. All of this has come in handy once I got my own place. Learning simple car stuff like changing oil, changing tires, and perhaps redoing spark plugs and belts can help you too, especially if you want to save money on car maintenance.
On a related note to that, cars, houses, and boats are all basically giant pits you toss money into. (That’s why people often take on debt to get new cars; a lot of the expensive maintenance is covered under warranty.)
Be careful with student debt. An education is important, but you can be stuck with that debt for a very long time, and owing that much in an uncertain economy like we have can be dangerous. So plan your education well.
With the understanding that there are some things people call ‘hobbies’ that are just them being gross (ogling little anime girls because they’re ’really 700 years old so it’s fine!’ comes to mind), in general enjoy your hobbies and don’t be ashamed of them. If, say, you like doing drag, and one of your friends says nasty things about it, that person is not your friend and you don’t need to feel ashamed of your hobby to make them feel better. If it makes you happy and doesn’t harm anyone, then just have fun. But, in counterpoint to that, don’t fall into your hobby so hard that you start gatekeeping and being an ass about it, or ruining your health about it. Remember, other people are in the hobby to have fun too, so who cares if so-and-so’s drag wig is a little basic or messy?
I hope you know this already, but it’s astonishing how many people don’t: bathe every day. And wear at least moderately clean clothes. No-one likes stinky people and it’s easy to become inured to your own smell.
Esoteric:
Like that other person said, read. Terry Pratchett, Mark Twain, Richard Feynman… plenty of people have put amazingly good thoughts down on paper. I especially like Pratchett’s definition of sin.
Learn history, and not just the basic ‘approved’ things taught in schools. For example, our school ‘neglected’ to teach about the Tulsa Race Massacre, or the brutal Union fights in West Virginia. I’ve found, for good summaries of more ancient history, Overly Sarcastic Productions does a pretty good job. It’s impossible to know where you are going until you know where we have been. And of course that old adage ‘those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it’ is very true. See: the US right now.
Learn what a cult looks like and avoid them like the plague. Doesn’t matter how lonely you are, how much ‘esoteric knowledge’ they offer, they will destroy your life and probably your family’s lives as well.
I just wanted to say how well put and structured your comment is :).
Agree that having a credit card and using it is a good thing to build credit, which is important – thank you for clarifying. I intended only to suggest that carrying a balance month to month is very expensive, as you articulated.