Epic
Life is frequently boring. There are many parts which are certainly not thrilling. Brushing your teeth, driving to work, clipping toenails, etc... What we see on TV is the epic side of life - it's the interesting bits with everything in-between removed. It's what we try to capture when we role-play - only the epic portions of life. It's what we imagine ourselves being when we're children. And it's what many of us fail to actually achieve.
I want life to be more epic. More dramatic. So that I can be more entertained by the every-day interactions of people. Maybe that's why I like working in substance abuse - because it IS dramatic. What the people in the center live every day is hard - it's anguish, guilty, shame, rage, joy, brotherhood, hope, and forgiveness. It's not bland daily grind bull-shit. It's like life in neon and bold typeface.
I had this revelation while watching Boondocks (the cartoon). This is a show about an average upper-middle class black family, but the stories are told with more embellishment. Instead of being in a school play Huey creates a play and drafts Denzel Washington as the lead and gets the NAACP involved when the school wants to shut it down. Instead of gramps getting a girlfriend, he gets a ho who is obnoxious and obvious but gramps ignores that in the name of love. It's like the theme of the show is taking normal occurrences and embellishing the shit out of them - in essence making life epic.
The reason I'm discussing this is because I'm considering another line of social work. Working in Child Protective Services. I'm nervous about doing this, for obvious reasons. I'm worried about burnout, about too much bureaucracy, about hatred from ALL clients. I'm worried I'll hate it. But the state pays an amazing wage, fantastic benefits, etc.... So I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. I'm weighing my options and have until Monday to decide. I'll let y'all know what I ultimately choose.
Wish me luck.
I want life to be more epic. More dramatic. So that I can be more entertained by the every-day interactions of people. Maybe that's why I like working in substance abuse - because it IS dramatic. What the people in the center live every day is hard - it's anguish, guilty, shame, rage, joy, brotherhood, hope, and forgiveness. It's not bland daily grind bull-shit. It's like life in neon and bold typeface.
I had this revelation while watching Boondocks (the cartoon). This is a show about an average upper-middle class black family, but the stories are told with more embellishment. Instead of being in a school play Huey creates a play and drafts Denzel Washington as the lead and gets the NAACP involved when the school wants to shut it down. Instead of gramps getting a girlfriend, he gets a ho who is obnoxious and obvious but gramps ignores that in the name of love. It's like the theme of the show is taking normal occurrences and embellishing the shit out of them - in essence making life epic.
The reason I'm discussing this is because I'm considering another line of social work. Working in Child Protective Services. I'm nervous about doing this, for obvious reasons. I'm worried about burnout, about too much bureaucracy, about hatred from ALL clients. I'm worried I'll hate it. But the state pays an amazing wage, fantastic benefits, etc.... So I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. I'm weighing my options and have until Monday to decide. I'll let y'all know what I ultimately choose.
Wish me luck.