I'll be the first to admit that I have always been a fairly introverted and reserved sort of person.
Hence, I have no particular desire to become front and center of everything, choosing instead to stay mostly in the background and do my own thing, most of the time.
That said, I'm absolutely a fan of - and in favor of - people having the freedom to express themselves and to entertain the world as they see fit, particularly if that happens to be their natural inclination.
Where I start having pause for thought is when we reach this particular point - which seems to be true of our culture today, at least here in the United States - at which it is almost impossible to "be" anything unless you make a total spectacle of yourself.
It's a sort of strange narcissistic form of exhibitionism that I don't entirely understand... in which "being weird and strange" has been almost elevated to an art form and a contest of "who's being further out there."
No, I'm not just talking about people who are walking out there on the unusually extreme bleeding edge of coming across as their own personal freak show, I'm actually talking about even such relatively things as mainstream media newscasts... both left oriented and right oriented.
It almost feels like the new definition of how to do well in life is to turn your entire existence into a public performance of extreme proportions!
Am I just becoming an old codger who is ready for a life of sitting in a rocking chair on my back porch, yelling at kids to get off my lawn?
On a personal level, I don't think so. I never had any particular inclination even when I was young to make any sort of spectacle of myself. Yes, I was introverted but I'm also talking about my peers that I grew up with, some of whom were extremely outgoing and expressive!
However, they were definitely not their own circus acts.
Do I disapprove? Not really. It's more a sense of concern that just "regular excellence" is no longer enough to make your mark on the world... if that's what you desire to do.
I guess we increasingly live in an era where life is all about drawing attention to yourself. The flipside to that it gets harder and harder to get anywhere just by being good at something.
And I find that a little worrisome.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your weekend!
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Created at 2023-07-09 00:53 PDT
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