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Stoned Rants
This is truly an aspect of humanity that I can’t fully grasp. I understand stereotypes and, to a degree, why they exist (this is just a personal rant or I’d elaborate). But as far as humans making personal choices that don’t have any bearing on the existence of others, and the judgment they receive for them, I just… don’t. For instance, if someone is gay/straight/trans, in what way does that affect people who seemingly dislike them? I can’t understand why it invokes such negativity in some. It doesn’t have any impact on their lives personally, so why be bothered by it? Racism is another thing. How can someone judge an entire group based on a singular bad example? I’m not really **trying** to understand the motivations of people who judge; I’m more just confounded by the entire thing. We have such little time here, and we seem to always find reasons to hate. And to what end? How does this help **us** by constantly dwelling on what we perceive to be “bad” or “wrong”? I don’t know. I feel like a major part of the problem is media constantly putting us against each other. Whatever. Kill your tv or something.
Specifically, Data. I think my dog is smarter than I am.
I’ll try to keep this short (haha good luck), but one thing I’ve noticed is a human tendency towards either looking *at* the negative aspects of the world/life and fixating on them, making them our primary focus, or looking *for* negatives. I wonder sometimes if those who look at the world through a negative lens are actively looking for “a good fight” to give them purpose, or if maybe they can’t avoid seeing it. Granted, the world is a fucked up place. But truth be told, it always has been, and so long as humans inhabit it, it will continue to be that way. But it’s our immediate “world” that seems to catch the mess from it, at times. I remember reading a psych study that demonstrated the differences in two couples: one that acted “normally” (getting home from work, complaining about their day, etc.), and another that made a conscious effort to strip that away and look at the positives in their lives. After a while, the former couple had all of the issues one would expect to encounter, while the latter fared much better, even to the point of becoming closer and much happier. TL;DR - It’s hard, but I think consciously making an effort to appreciate the small things in life that make you happy can have some pretty amazing long-term benefits. I’ve recently been doing this, and feel less weighed down by things. [Article discussing this much better than i can. ](https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_neuroscience_of_happiness)
I think people put *entirely* too much emphasis on the type of job someone has/how much they make, and not enough on whether or not what a person does makes them happy. There’s almost this sick obsession in the west with work. Case in point: I’m a musician. As a job. Do I make a ton of money? Fuck no. On some tours, I’m lucky to break even and pay bills. But the fact that I’m enjoying my life means more to me than the amount I’m bringing in. I **still** get side-eyed every time I mention what I do for a living to others. Sometimes people ask, “Oh, but what do you do *for a living*, as if being able to survive while concurrently being happy isn’t “enough of a job.” Fuck that. Do what makes you happy. Time is the only “currency” we spend that has any value, and that we can’t get back.
Clearly, this is a mildly directionless community, but I wanted a place to post things that didn’t fit into other communities.