The Essay of Self-Lessons.
These past weeks have really been an eye-opener for me. With all the things happening around the world; this little nation I live in having become the center of a major international incident and what is looking more and more to become an all out war of cultures has just awakened me to the world around me in a completely new way.
I see things now that I didn't before; I'm much more interested in foreign culture and society, more interested in politics and global events. And suddenly the things that have occupied my time for about 3½ years now seem totally inconsequental.
In my time in a certain fandom, I've had good experiences...lots of them. I've also been hung out to dry and become the target of resentment from people who decided to get mad that I hadn't read their stories, or that I disagreed with the way they were doing character development, and so forth.
And honestly; it all just seems so petty now.
To live a life where you allow yourself to be worked up over a fictional universe and is willing to make enemies based on that is well...it's not a life at all. There's a world out there; a real world where things never go the way you want them to. People never react like you want them to; the only way to get ahead is through dialogue and understanding; something that you will never learn while sitting in a little Happy Place in a fictional world, that you portray via a typewriter or computer. And to let yourself start resenting people who happen to disagree with you over these things...well there's more to life than what just pops from your mind...there's more to the world than that.
If I had to sum all that up into one sentence; it would be: "I have woken up." And I have. I can enjoy fictional things, and universes and creating things for them. But they aren't the world; they aren't a life and they will never, ever be grounds to start raving over others. If someone wants that, well...that's their choice, but I pity them.
I've learned that while it is always important to be tolerant and to listen to the viewpoints of others; there will always be those who decide to dislike you and what you do; for whatever reason. To that I simply say:
"I am who I am. I'm not perfect but I try to be a good guy. I do what I do, and I live like I live. If you have issues with that, then...that's your problem, not mine."
Fin
I see things now that I didn't before; I'm much more interested in foreign culture and society, more interested in politics and global events. And suddenly the things that have occupied my time for about 3½ years now seem totally inconsequental.
In my time in a certain fandom, I've had good experiences...lots of them. I've also been hung out to dry and become the target of resentment from people who decided to get mad that I hadn't read their stories, or that I disagreed with the way they were doing character development, and so forth.
And honestly; it all just seems so petty now.
To live a life where you allow yourself to be worked up over a fictional universe and is willing to make enemies based on that is well...it's not a life at all. There's a world out there; a real world where things never go the way you want them to. People never react like you want them to; the only way to get ahead is through dialogue and understanding; something that you will never learn while sitting in a little Happy Place in a fictional world, that you portray via a typewriter or computer. And to let yourself start resenting people who happen to disagree with you over these things...well there's more to life than what just pops from your mind...there's more to the world than that.
If I had to sum all that up into one sentence; it would be: "I have woken up." And I have. I can enjoy fictional things, and universes and creating things for them. But they aren't the world; they aren't a life and they will never, ever be grounds to start raving over others. If someone wants that, well...that's their choice, but I pity them.
I've learned that while it is always important to be tolerant and to listen to the viewpoints of others; there will always be those who decide to dislike you and what you do; for whatever reason. To that I simply say:
"I am who I am. I'm not perfect but I try to be a good guy. I do what I do, and I live like I live. If you have issues with that, then...that's your problem, not mine."
Fin