the real world

Create stability before seeking meaning. Root down into life before reflecting too much on existence, spirituality, or mortality. In practice, however, that clear split of developmental goals for adulthood is rare and unrealistic. It’s a model that reflects the course of life for a very specific demographic, and is a narrative that, even in its pri

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My personal dilemma over this has become increasingly pointed. I’ve turned my back on the flood of visual material being produced, but I’m struggling desperately in the hope of creating something a little better. In order to do so, I’ve even had to rationalize the art of navigating this world. I tell people I hate professionals, but I know that in

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What he wanted was to live in a timeless castle, a world wrought of old gold, where everything was noble and glorious and nothing ever changed. He wanted the battle to be over, he wanted to win and have won and be done with fighting forever and ever. But of course it wasn’t over. Why would the future be simpler than the past? Stories never really e

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Solitude and peace lose their specialness when they no longer stand in contrast to anything. In a busy—or at least busier—life, quiet reflection provides resonance to experience. But to deprive life of experiences deliberately and to hide from its realities was not special. It was just another form of fear that led to a life-limiting loneliness tha

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You are realizing the mundanity of life. You are moving out of the realm of fantasy of “when I grow up" and adjusting to the reality that you’re there; it's happening, and it’s not what you thought it’d be.