Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you knew you were following one of your passions — or even just a carefully laid plan — and yet it felt more and more like you were "playing to an empty room," metaphorically speaking?
Earlier today, I found myself reflecting on one of life's toughest dilemmas: Making a move when you are facing a situation that is "too good to leave, but too bad to stay."
Life is funny, that way.
We hear — and read — about those who experience tremendous successes or horrendous failures, but we very seldom hear much about the vast majority of life's experiences, so many of which leave us squarely somewhere in the middle... in a no-man's land where no decision seems particularly clear or persuasive.
I thought about how my past businesses pretty much died with a whimper, not with a bang or a spectacular flameout... and the same was actually true for both of my previous long term relationships.
Made me stop and wonder how common that actually is, for most people.
So many things end up going sideways, rather than in any specific direction. It's like putting on a play that enjoys modest success, gets decent reviews and keeps attracting an audience that is just big enough to cover expenses and the price of a cheap dinner. But every now and then, you feel acutely aware that you are playing to a half-empty room, and with each passing month it seems like there are one of two more empty seats for each performance.
Or IS there?
Because then you suddenly have a couple of weeks where the trend reverses and things get slightly better, day by day... just enough that you decide not to shut down the production.
The preceding is — of course — just a metaphor for how 90% of life seems to unfold.
It's that 90% that might be best characterized as unremarkable.
Perhaps our upbringing and personal histories become important here. What were we raised with? What sort of expectations for how "adult life" was going to be were we imbued with? Were we imprnted with the idea that life is about "greatness, or nothing?" Or were we taught to be grateful that "at least we have SOMEthing?"
On a personal level, I suppose that growing up in Denmark — in the invisible yet ever-present shadow of the Jante Law — invariably steered me in the direction of an "unremarkable" life; a life of neither greatness nor abject misery.
Ironic, I suppose, that I ended up spending most of my adult life living in a society that places so much emphasis on exceptionalism!
The Universe is not without a sense of humor!
Cultural imprints are often stronger and more subtle than we give them credit for... or that we are aware of.
In many ways, I ended up in the United States as a way to get away from the stifling climate of uniformity of my native Denmark. There was the promise of a freedom in the USA where you could get by, even if you were somewhat odd, with unusual interests and life philosophy that "went off the book" much of the time.
And yet... and consistent series of life choices that led to aforesaid unremarkable life.
Now... THAT is ironic...
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2026.07.15 23:53 PDT
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