Thank you for this, Chris Cantwell.
Reality Check of the Day: “So You Want To Get a PhD In The Humanities”: Yet another critical dose of demotivational pep talk, courtesy of text-to-movie app, Xtranormal.
[nag.]
Earlier: So you want to go to law school.
I’d like to just point something out here: Doing anything that you would actually find fulfilling or God forbid make you happy in the slightest sense is REALLY HARD, NIGH IMPOSSIBLE.
That still doesn’t mean it’s completely impossible. It might be easier than it was in say, 1848 when most people died within a 3 mile radius of where they were born. It just means it’s STILL REALLY HARD and you’re going to have to work for it.
That also means that you might never get to that EXACT PLACE you imagine or are fighting for when you embark upon the quest. But doesn’t that also mean that ultimately it’s worth the risk? And you believe enough in what you’re DOING CURRENTLY and are fulfilled in the JOURNEY ITSELF enough that even if things don’t turn out exactly the way you want in your vocation that it’s not the END OF THE WORLD?
Hopefully, you’re not entirely vocation-driven in your life, or rather, you’re vocational about your relationships, your family, the planet, a dog, OTHER THINGS so that in the end summation it’s the COLLECTIVE WEIGHT that provides you with the meaning and fulfillment you’ve sought and ultimately MADE FOR YOURSELF even if the exact specifics of the definition might be different than what you imagined when you were 18 or 22 years old.
Yes, the blonde girl in this video comes off as stupid and ill-informed, but what is she supposed to be, 20? She’s got raw inspiration to do something she believes in. Who the fuck becomes a teacher or pursues knowledge or anything they truly believe in so that they can live financially comfortable lives of luxury and privilege? Anyone who sets out with that goal is already going to end up unhappy, even if it’s just with themselves at 7 in the morning when they stare at the mirror before brushing their teeth and realize that their priorities are completely out of whack.
I’m SO SICK of the RAMPANT CYNICISM of younger generations that masks a bizarre ASTONISHMENT that we don’t get exactly what we want when we fill out some forms and get a slip of paper. We had a glimmering moment in 2008—what the fuck happened to continuing to push that through and pull the oxcart of dreams up the hill to the summit and actually fucking building something out of it? Yes, a degree doesn’t guarantee shit, even the big degrees that cost a lot of money these days. I have a BFA in Screenwriting. That doesn’t guarantee me anything. And what’s the percentage of people getting screenwriting degrees that find gainful employment in a creative field within the entertainment industry?
I quote Tommy Boy: “I can take a shit in a box and mark it guaranteed.”
Voting Obama into office doesn’t guarantee anything. Nothing guarantees anything. It’s the work ON TOP of the milestones and knowing the possibility that none of it could lead anywhere or to anything but yet still PURSUING IT BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE IN IT means something. I know it’s a cliche, but my dad put a sign in my room when I was a kid…
It said: “Attitude is Everything.”
When did pursuing something less practical than the norm become “stupid” or something to laugh at or deride as a poor choice? If you’re this down about your career path, change it, but don’t translate your feelings into a treatise on why it’s a bad idea for ANYONE TO MAKE THE MISTAKE OF WHAT YOU ATTEMPTED.
And I don’t mean to say—be blindly optimistic. I have plenty of days on my own long and rocky road (ice cream!) where I get pretty dark and pretty down. But Jesus, we live in a time where we can travel to any place in the world and where we can INVENT careers and touch any one of the permutations of progress and pursue something that could lead to even mo’ betta meaty meat things for our children to pursue. Some of these things might be good for humans and the planet.
And if it’s broke, FIX IT. Devote yourself to fixing it. Do something. Work at it. Don’t move to Canada if the GOP takes the HOUSE tomorrow, or if Palin runs in 2012. If you believe in it, stick around and fight and make changes. Movies are shit. The education system is shit. I know the intrinsic value and potential of both things to NOT be shit and I believe in one enough to devote myself to it.
And at the end of the day (my life), I will not be devoid, even if my results are nominal. I will have put energy out there. I will have tried to instill the same values in possible children to continue the fight. People won’t read my name on a tombstone and laugh and point and shout out FOOL’S ERRAND because goddammit I am enjoying myself through the hard work and the failures and the tough nature of the WAY THINGS ARE and at the very least I can count myself as someone who stood on his own feet and cared about people and believed in things and wasn’t some lemming stooge who bought the party line on How Things Work.
I believe in a future. Not just for myself, but for things in general. Don’t we get to decide if there’s a future? Apparently, kids overwhelming think humanity (not the humanities—humanity) will be kaput in 15 to 20 years. What? Why? 100 years ago people saw the potential of human flight and vaccination and the unexplored earth and a bunch of shit and this is in spite of disease and poor labor conditions and 3500 deaths a month from industrial accidents.
It seems like we’re running short on inspiration.
Now I quote Conan: Don’t be cynical.
And if you’re so fucking unhappy with what you chose to do, move to Maine and go buy a dinghy boat and shuck fucking oysters for a living.
I’ll look for your XtraNormal video in 5 months when you discover the problems with that industry as well.
(Source: thedailywhat)
