Seriously.

What are you doing with your life?

Is it all about you?

Or is it about those immediate to you,
such as friends and family
or those you will never meet 2 or 3 generations from now?

Do you give one thought to anybody on the other side of the globe…
apart from people you talk to online?

Is it funny when “that one kid” gets made fun or are you just glad its not you?

Does the concept “Pay It Forward” have meaning or is it just a crappy movie with Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey?

If you plant a tree does that take care of all the pollution and waste you continue to spit out daily? Is it me or does this approach seem like a sacrifice to appease the gods?


Its one thing to talk about world peace, global awareness and going green, but I have been finding that its all just talk. Ideologies which many would agree to but find themselves out grasp of. If you ask this generation about these ideals many would nod and say they are for them. But when you look at the lives day to day of this generation, the waste, the emptiness, the lack of depth…

…well it appears wanting.
Not everyone is like that, but the majority appears to be so.

We want to be entertained or entertainers.
Make another video.
Crack me in the nuts.
Sing a funny song.
Get drunk and smack me with a frying pan.
Post it on Youtube.
Look at me.
Look at me.
Look at me.
Myspace. Facebook. Twitter. Youtube. etc
Fun sites with fun postings…
just more entertainment to fill the void.


So what are you going to do with your life?

EDIT:
Understand this is not a self righteous rant to make people angry or make people feel bad, but more to discuss the reality of our lives. And to find out what some are doing to change this world.

Honest answer? At the moment, not a hell of a lot. Most of what I do is try to make the world a bit more of a brighter, happier place. That's why I make art and keep going to school to be an illustrator. I flat out admit that my methods and life aren't exactly in tune with the ideologies of “living green” and that I don't always do a good turn. I try and usually manage to do the right thing at least half the time. I think about the entire world of people I come into contact with every day, not just friends and family. That's why I make the art I do, in the way I do and as often as I do. I screw up a lot and don't often live the life that's perfect. I could recycle more, I could stop using spray paint as a tool, I could walk everywhere I go instead of taking the bus, but I don't because I'm not perfect and just like everyone else I screw up and don't care about some of the things I should.

So to answer your question midge; I'm going to get back to this picture of a pig I'm drawing, try not to waste time thinking about everything I screw up, and go paste it on some bus stop to make the guy who has to sleep there maybe forget about how fucking cold he is for 3 seconds while he laughs. Sounds like a pretty good life purpose to me at least.

Right now, I'm doing my damnedest to become independent, so I can pay my parents back for everything they've done for me.

My damnedest isn't getting me anywhere. I'm applying for jobs and getting very few interviews. I'm fighting the depression this kind of general failure and uselessness causes. I'm volunteering at the local museum and helping around the house (my parents' house) as much as I can and trying not to be too much of a burden. I fill the gaps with prayer and with creative endeavors, because I feel at least some semblance of productivity when I create something.

We do some things that might count as being “green,” but it's not the intention. We watch our water and electricity usage but that is for the sake of saving money. We have a septic tank, so we have no dishwasher or disposal. Our single bathroom and tiny hot water tank means we take short showers and wash all our clothes in cold water. We don't waste gas because we have no where to go (and, again, money). And we recycle everything because it is a city ordinance.

My parents donate to a number of charities, but I don't have any income, so I can't.

Yeah, it's a bummer of an answer, but there's very little one can do for the ‘big picture’ when one has such little impact and is struggling just to stay afloat and find a “place.” So, is it all about me? Yeah. I guess it is, but I hope it won't always be. I'm grateful to the people who have been supporting me and hope I can “pay it forward” (and back).

TheMidge28
EDIT:
Understand this is not a self righteous rant to make people angry or make people feel bad, but more to discuss the reality of our lives. And to find out what some are doing to change this world.

Yeah. I kinda realized how angry my response sounds. It's not really, just kind of stream of consciousness. and apparently my stream of consciousness has an irritable bit of an attitude or something. But that's what I'm trying to do to change the world a bit. Just make the lives of my fellow Milwaukee denizens a little more colourful and interesting.

Kids today have no respect. Unemployment is on the rise, crime is out of control, there's war the world over, and nobody pays the gods their dues. The world is burning to ashes around us, and there's no end in sight.

Where was this quote of dismay and darkness from? Why, etched on the side of a pyramid.

The only reason I don't feel particularly horrible about the way the world is is because it's always been this way so long as one man has learned he can hold power over another. I don't condone it, and I don't like it, but by taking a look at history we can see that no generation has really done any better or worse than its predecessors. We're all human. We've never been anything more, and we never will.

As for what I'm doing with my life? Well, I'm a social worker, specifically A “child welfare specialist.” I try to make the lives of unfortunate kids better by helping out their families (despite what tv may have told you). I usually donate to the charities standing outside of wal-mart. All I really do outside of the norm is stay cheerful, polite and friendly, regardless of the situation. I might not be saving the planet, but I've made it my business to save people, even if I don't succeed that often.

I'm being green ^_^

Work takes up more of my life right now but I'm accumulating more money than I need so I can maybe do some cool stuff along the way… Travel etc. BUY HATS

Work also takes me away from my comic and art, which is bad… So in that sense I'm wasting a lot of it in work, but you DO need monnies don't you? There may be a disaster or tragedy and it makes it easier if you have something in reserve. :)
-SO it's not just for spending on big TVs etc…

Yeah, I care quite a lot about the poor and disadvantaged everywhere, and I give money occasionally. True, I might do more if I actually WENT to help out in some horrible disaster area like Gaza or whatever… But the world moves on, horrible things happen, people live and die, and we can only do so much.

Often your family, workplace and friends also need you quite a lot and what could you REALLY bring to some disaster area? Patronizingly riding in on a white steed with your enlightened Western values and your guilty conscience? I always find the “aid worker” thing a little puzzling: On one hand I admire them extremely! On the other I sort of wonder about them… often they're only volunteers with no special skills (when they're not doctors etc.), so they're basically just bringing the fact that they're western and uninvolved…
-ANother English speaking mouth to feed and body to protect for the aid organisation they're working for… One tends to think that in that case it'd be MUCH better to use locals- giving them employment and a stake in the well being of their community.

SO… by that rationale it's better to send your money to Doctors without borders or something :)

TheMidge28
Seriously.

What are you doing with your life?

Is it all about you?

Or is it about those immediate to you,
such as friends and family
or those you will never meet 2 or 3 generations from now?

Do you give one thought to anybody on the other side of the globe…
apart from people you talk to online?

Is it funny when “that one kid” gets made fun or are you just glad its not you?

Does the concept “Pay It Forward” have meaning or is it just a crappy movie with Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey?

If you plant a tree does that take care of all the pollution and waste you continue to spit out daily? Is it me or does this approach seem like a sacrifice to appease the gods?


Its one thing to talk about world peace, global awareness and going green, but I have been finding that its all just talk. Ideologies which many would agree to but find themselves out grasp of. If you ask this generation about these ideals many would nod and say they are for them. But when you look at the lives day to day of this generation, the waste, the emptiness, the lack of depth…

…well it appears wanting.
Not everyone is like that, but the majority appears to be so.

We want to be entertained or entertainers.
Make another video.
Crack me in the nuts.
Sing a funny song.
Get drunk and smack me with a frying pan.
Post it on Youtube.
Look at me.
Look at me.
Look at me.
Myspace. Facebook. Twitter. Youtube. etc
Fun sites with fun postings…
just more entertainment to fill the void.


So what are you going to do with your life?

EDIT:
Understand this is not a self righteous rant to make people angry or make people feel bad, but more to discuss the reality of our lives. And to find out what some are doing to change this world.

Wow. That's deep stuff. I'm thinking of putting it as a comic filler or something (with your permission. I'm not a plagiarizer. lol)

Anyway, to answer your question I don't really know the answer why I'm alive on this earth.

Family? Friends? I dunno. I don't really have any strong connections with anybody on this planet. I'm sort of like Eman Cruz from MAG-ISA (nah just kidding. he's at least a 5x exaggerration of reality).

But the thing is, I used to have alot of hatred in my head. I hated the world with a passion. Because everyone's so fake. Because everyone seems to just be a copycat of the other. Because I look into people's eyes and I can feel the soul-lessness. The emptyness. The shallowness of it all. I hated it. I cant seem to fit in. I hated the world because people seemed to have this desire to take advantage of the weak. To oppress. To kill. To destroy. I hated it.

I used to fantasize about blowing it all up or shooting up the school… you know… I admit that I used to look up to the guys who did Columbine. I used to think they're cool. Yes. I used to look at those mass murderers like they're heroes or something. Me and my sick, twisted brain.

As a result of not fitting in, I always loved to look up to what you call “the rebel”. Those who are seemingly outcasts. Who are seemingly lone voices in the wilderness. I used to think Tyler Durden of the movie “FIGHT CLUB” is such a cool and awesome guy. I fantasized being part of PROJECT MAYHEM.

Though what sort of knocked me in the head… were people like Alex Jones, David Icke, etc. Those people. They're not mainstream. They're looked upon by mainstream society as “fringe elements”. As outcasts. I wondered. Hmmm… Because they're fringe elements, they must be cool guys.

And so, I was initially drawn to their message of conspiracy and the illuminati and all that.

But the irony of it. The more I learned more and more about this reality, the less and less I learned to hate this world.

Instead of hate for this world, for some reason, its more like I feel this kind of COMPASSION or something.

Yes. Even for that roidhead cop who just LOVES TO BEAT UP PEOPLE and revels in making them suffer. I feel sorry for people like him because they're missing alot. Because they'd NEVER EVER get to realize what it means to be a human being. They'd NEVER realize what it means to be “infinite consciousness” as David Icke would say.

And at this point in my life, I sort of feel a connection to all of humanity.

Whenever I read about people getting bombed in the Gaza strip, or elsewhere, the feeling of pain is more intense than before. Same thing applies whenever I read about the economy going to shit and people losing their jobs by the tens of thousands!!! Before I used to read that shit and say “big deal. Its just a bunch of OTHER PEOPLE. Its not gonna happen to me. Who cares.”

That is why… what do I do about it?

In my own little way, I want to give light to the world. By delivering my message.

I'd start with the conspiracy, then I'd get into the spiritual aspect of it. I'd talk about how we're all children of the loving God. The creator of the universe. That life force. That is shared by all living things in this universe. The giver of life.

God exists. Whether or not you acknowledge he is there… or pervert his message through religions that teach hate.

We are all connected.

Laugh at me all you want. Deny deny deny.

But that is the truth and the truth will set you free.

Thats all I have to say.

Right now all my time and money goes towards hopefully becoming functional enough to actually have a life. I'll get back to you when that happens. ;)

…Uh…
Well, I uhh…

Let's not go there.

Working on the best damn comic ever, getting back into college for broadcasting, and being paid to be an all-around cunt. That's pretty much what I'm doing with my life. In terms of caring about me or others, I care about two people right now, really. They know who they are.

There's a famous theory out there called Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (wikipedia has a useful summary) which basically talks about the order in which humans tackle the things they feel are necessary for life.

Things like ‘food’ ‘shelter’ and ‘employment’ are near the base, and most important. They're necessary before trying to meet higher needs. Someone who has no place to sleep, etc, is in no position to worry about planting trees or conserving water.

Pretty much every moral, aesthetic, and creative need (which are pretty much what people are talking about when they talk about ‘making a difference’ with their lives) is at the top of the pyramid. Difficult to do unless you are absolutely secure at the lower levels, not impossible, but usually the first things to go when a lower level is in risk.

Because we all have computers and regular internet access, we can assume that we're all able to meet most of the things we need on the lower levels. That puts us in a position to achieve ‘higher’ needs, if we feel motivated or if we're secure enough. That doesn't mean they're easy to do. Someone who needs to keep their job which is 40 miles away simply isn't in a position to conserve gas, as much as they may like to. But they may be able to plant a garden, volunteer, etc. You called that ‘appeasing the gods’ but I doubt many people see it that way. They probably feel glad they can at least do a small part, even though they're not able to make big changes. Sure, they could line-dry their clothes or something… but that may take time away from their family or interfere with a more important need.

It *is* basically about quality of life vs higher ethics, but I don't think that most people who don't worry about Africa or who can't cut their consumption are bad people or lazy. I think in a lot of cases it's much more practical than that.

I try to be as respectful as I can, and try to follow all the rules. Where I'm headed in life, is that I want to draw comics for a living.

And I agree with whoever said it (don't remember who), but Kids these days DON'T have any respect.

A girl my age, (she's about 15/16), got into a fight, an actual fist fight, with a teacher.

I heard two freshman girls talking (this is just High School, mind you) and one of them said something, and the other acted all surprised and said, “YOU'RE STILL A VIRGIN!?!?” like it was some big deal. The girl replied, “No! I can't live without sex!”

Keep in mind that these girls are like, 14, maybe 15 years old.
That's just….ugh.

skoolmunkee
There's a famous theory out there called Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (wikipedia has a useful summary) which basically talks about the order in which humans tackle the things they feel are necessary for life.

I like that. It's a very intellectual approach. :)

But this used to sum up my attitude to day to day like perfectly:

I get up when I want, except on Wednesdays, when I get rudely wakened by the dustmen.
I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea, and I think about leaving the house.
I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too.
It gives me a sense of enormous well-being.
And then I'm happy for the rest of the day, safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to it.

-rubbish collection is on Tuesdays here though…

Ryuthehedgewolf
I heard two freshman girls talking (this is just High School, mind you) and one of them said something, and the other acted all surprised and said, “YOU'RE STILL A VIRGIN!?!?” like it was some big deal. The girl replied, “No! I can't live without sex!”

Keep in mind that these girls are like, 14, maybe 15 years old.
That's just….ugh.

I know… you'd think it was still the 1750's or something lol!

Trying to piece together my psyche after a breakdown. Everything I believed in discitagrated in the space of a few months and I slipped away. I saw what I was and I realized I had to move on.

So now I smile and add whatever brightness I can to anyone's life I come in contact with and am trying my best to take care of the most important person in my life: me.

That and not taking anything seriously is working a lot better than being a nattering na-bob of negativity and seeing the glass as half empty and draining fast. I've changed the world by my presence the same as George Bailey in that Frank Capra movie.

Knowledge is worthless, wisdom is treasured. The learned man is a fool and knows nothing, the sage knows knowledge is nothing and insight and wisdom gives worth to the world and is very very rare. The secret is not to despair over this situation but to understand it in good humor and acknowledge that most are fools and do not see it and don't want enlightenment because it is too inconvienent. Instead I smile and laugh and enjoy where I am and love this world and my fellows because it is all I will ever know. Others make choices I do not agree with and that are the foolish option that has gives them no worthy advantage. I cannot change it; I can only change myself.

It is the fate of the sage to be a voice in the wilderness and to be as Cassandra. Events always prove the sage to have been right all along, but no one ever listened. Just smile at their foolishness and accept their choices and seek joy in my piece of the world. Ask: why can't I be happy? And then work at creating the situation where you will be happy remembering that you can only change yourself and hope the world will follow and accepting with good humor when it does not.

lol!

I'm on the very brink of being shoved into independence. I'm very glad. I always imagined it would happen this way.

My parents are going their separate ways… finally. It suddenly became painfully obvious how their union shouldn't (and really doesn't) exist a few years ago (when my brain “woke up” and continues to grind from there). I'm glad. They're each going to do what they've been needing to for the last 20 years. It's not a search for the greener pasture. It's just a return to the path. I'm not worried about anything despite all the former upsets! Neither is anyone else! Mom's friends aren't, even! It's weird.

Living with Dad is going to be basically like living on my own, so I'll be taking care of everything. I don't doubt myself.

My life has always been slow. Teenagers already know the things I only just learned. People are always rushing. I could have learned things sooner (heck, algebra when I learned my times tables, why not), but time can be made up for (and it is). I always just wanted to be pushed into what I needed, and I'd learn because I always do, because I never have been challenged - but now I have no choice. Soon it's going to just be me, and it'll be just fine.

If the economy can spare me a job, that is.

My life's been relatively solitary and introspective… I never felt “alone”, “lonely”, or “neglected”, because I entertained myself. Other people did their things and didn't interfere with me. I have a few less friends for that, but turns out I didn't need them. I wonder sometimes if I think of myself more than other people do about themselves. But right now I have friends that I love and I finally understand my family, for better or worse. I'm in a position to do great things. Nothing holds me back, basically.

So, while I hunt for jobs and try to contribute to society, I work on my portfolio, I think of what I seriously, seriously can do to help the people on the other side of this world when I can afford it, I make sure I don't foolishly neglect the immediate future of me and my friends and my family, while making sure I never go to bed regretting anything.

I don't honestly feel the world is worse now than it ever was. Mankind always exploits greatness and turns it bad; the great things don't get any less great, though. The good people just need to remember not to take things for granted. Like I said, I think about myself a lot. I don't take credit for things that aren't mine, but I could stand to thank those people in my life that gave me what I had more. I could stand to offer my elders more respect, too. I wish that were instilled in me.


On another note, I sleep and wake whenever I want because I have no job. I have to be up between 4:30 and 12 for anime club on Tuesdays, but that's about it. One of my college professors occasionally pays me a ton to do very very simple design/code work, and I'm trying to help more people with websites, whether for pay or free. (Need some simple coding done? I'm your woman!)

I have the best friends, and the best potential-friends, and that's why I love life right now. I'm so fortunate to know people who are so genuinely not-bad, both OL and IRL, especially after knowing possibly the worst person I could ever have called my friend, hehe. Things like that have to be a work of God, man. I could have ended up with a bunch of shitty friends just as easily. :O


In a year or two I will go teach in Japan, where it really will just be me. I will fulfill several of my dreams already. I'll be immersed in a foreign country, and I'll have no choice but to develop further.


BLAB ABOUT MY LIFE YAY

nothing….and it makes me feel like a douchebag…

man…this is deep.


I dont even want to begin at what im doing with my life, because its not what i want to be doing. I just want my daughter.

right now, i'm doing comics and this make me feel very good with myself! :)

Me? Right now, I'm trying my best at my Illustration degree to pass the review at the end of the semester. I HAVE to pass it to continue my major, so I've got to work hard. Otherwise, I hang out with friends, call my girlfriend every couple nights, and make comics in my free time. On some days when I walk back from class I'll observe my surroundings and muse about life and the nature of things. It's a very pleasant way of living, and in it's own way, better than I've probably ever had things. All of my old problems are behind me and I only face one big one right now(aforementioned Illustration review).

On worse days, I wish I was less lazy and spent more time learning new things, like Martial arts or how to play an instrument.

The only thing I truly wish for was that by now I was doing better in my dream of making comics. I've been on this site two years and I still haven't made ‘the’ comic strip that I want to do for a long time, I have almost no fanbase, and despite my wanting to, I haven't made a single “story-style” comic yet. It seems like for every 2 steps I take I take 1 back. Perfect example: My school's newspaper had 3-5 comics last semester, and now has 1-2. So I make a week of comics and go over there asking if they were looking for cartoonists, as I figured they might be jonesin' for one that doesn't look like a fourth-grader drew it. Their response? We're not looking, and we're content with what we have. They didn't even bother to look at the strips I made. This was a real chance to get paid for making comics for once too. I suppose I'll have to just keep trying though. I'll make that first dollar eventually. Not that that's my be all end all goal, but being paid for this would be a nice change of pace.

Ugh, I suppose that sounded more like a rant, but I needed to get that off me.

I'd rather do more illustration focussed stuff as a job. And I might. I'm tired of this graphic design monkeywork. It's not like that desperately need the money or anything either.But how to move forward with that as a job instead? I dunno. In the mean time I'm tiring of office life.

I'm in the disillusionment that ‘that moment’ is going to come along someday. ‘That moment’ is basically what gets me off my ass and into the world, with a goal to obtain-i have no idea when and what ‘that moment’ is. So for now i sit around basically worthless to the world and do things with minimum or no effort waiting.

Of course It may not ever come.

*eats cheetos puffs*

Pretty much the same as Skullbie, except I know what I want to achieve. I just can't seem to work up the motivation to do it. It's a problem that plagues everything I do, life is passing me me by, and I just sit on my arse doing nothing. I know I'm missing out, that I'm not taking all these opportunities flaunting themselves in my face, but there's some unidentifiable thing preventing me from getting up and doing stuff.

Maybe I should see a therapist?

Right now with my life I am working a crappy little job that I consider a joke and treat it accordingly. And hope that maybe some day I will get a job worthy of my time. Until then I am just goofing off doing whatever I feel like and living an uneventfull life.

ozoneocean
I'd rather do more illustration focussed stuff as a job. And I might. I'm tired of this graphic design monkeywork. It's not like that desperately need the money or anything either.But how to move forward with that as a job instead? I dunno. In the mean time I'm tiring of office life.

Ever toyed with the idea of starting your own independent comic company?


I'm too worried about my current bills and my father's health to do what I want right now. I'm being patient… I'm looking out for any opportunity to rise above this rat race called “life”. And all the while I'm resisting my father's pestering about going to the Philippines to get myself a wife there (I'll be damned if I marry someone just to get them into the U.S…. or maybe it's those diabetes medicines affecting my brain again as scientists have revealed that high glucose can actually affect thinking).

Finally settled on a comic idea that I'll use to come back into drawing comics… I hope…

Lonnehart

ozoneocean
I'd rather do more illustration focussed stuff as a job. And I might. I'm tired of this graphic design monkeywork. It's not like that desperately need the money or anything either.But how to move forward with that as a job instead? I dunno. In the mean time I'm tiring of office life.

Ever toyed with the idea of starting your own independent comic company?

How about sending your work to various game or model companies. Back in the eighties they even hired talentless types like me to do interior art for the rulebooks. That's back when I could draw. :) Finding illustrators good with military hardware is hard. Ron Volstad can't be everywhere.