Reality shock
I just read a comment on a website somewhere that brought this up, and thought I'd post my thoughts here, so people I know can hear them, not just some random strangers on the reddit comments section.
The original comment I read was:
I'm 27 years old, and I've discovered that pretty much everything I've ever been taught about anything, is bullshit. Religion, school, government, food, banks, all false institutions. Even among friends, lying seems commonplace. Does anyone tell the truth? Does such a thing as integrity exist?
It occurred to me, I had similar feelings when I was 27. A 31-year old friend of mine was consoling me about nearing 30, and said all those scary life changes you think of happening when you're 30, actually happen at 27.
I think it's a transitional age for a lot of us in this culture. It's when you're finally far enough out of the rigorous institutions we put our youth through to realize it's all bullshit. We all make our own rules. 13 years of public school, which is separated into quarters, 5 days a week, with set holidays, set class schedules, set intellectual-brackets (are you an "A" student, or a "D" student?). You will eat between 11:35am and 12:05pm, with a 3 minute break for rest room and then on to social studies for 45 minutes. After that of course is university, and the ol 9-5.
Doctors? As a youth, you assume they are experts in their field. Godly, magical perhaps, you don't know how or why they know how to cure you, but they do and that's that.
Teachers know everything, and everyone has a true love, whom they will marry and spend their life with.
The truth is, life is much more open than that. Who says you have to work M-F, 9-5? Who says you need to go to church every Sunday morning?
Do the things that enrich your life. Do the things that enrich other people's lives. Have respect for yourself, others, and the world around you. If you want to learn something, learn it. If you want a change, act towards it. The rules of the world are not made by institutions, but in our own hearts.
