Keeping everything in perspective

[Scotsman]

Do you think our ideas about our own lives and our place in the world, in society are dictated more by what we see around us and what we perceive a 'better life' to be? Have we lost the ability to see the reality of the good in our lives through this haze of what we believe we should have in order to be happy? That question does slant more towards the materialistic side of things and I don't intend it to. I think it can also be relevant to questions, doubts and the ideas about happiness, love and feeling a part of something. I have family and close friends yet I still feel isolated. Why is that? I think I know the reasons. For me it's rooted in a health issue, not a serious one, that led to me withdrawing and being afraid to do the things I used to do. This has isolated me. And to some extent it continues to isolate me.

 

[EveWasFramed]

Do you think our ideas about our own lives and our place in the world, in society are dictated more by what we see around us and what we perceive a 'better life' to be? Have we lost the ability to see the reality of the good in our lives through this haze of what we believe we should have in order to be happy?

Three years ago, Id have said yes to that question.
Today, the answer is no. I've realized that I have a better handle on what truly makes life good and it's not the same today as it was then.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Well, speaking personally, I feel like society forces a bunch of things on me that I'm not mentally prepared for.

People assume things about me. They see me, a 30 year old man, and expect that I should be married or divorced. When they find out I'm a bachelor, I suddenly become "eccentric." Whoops!

And they expect me to care about things like paying bills, settling down, and saving for the future. While I accept that all of these things are important, I still have a love for music and all the things that I loved as a teenager. Hell, I still play video games...I'm a gamer. People expect me to have given up the games and the buying of cds and vinyl record by now...people assume that I am emotionally immature, because I still have the love for bands and the enthusiasm that I had when young.

There is also the assumption of my looks. When people see me, they assume I am either in my late teens, or early 20's. When I say my age, they are floored...and suddenly, I am expected to act different than what they perceive me as.

Don't even get me started on the way that people stereotype geeks and nerds. We are all supposed to be socially abnormal, eccentric, and somewhere on the autistic spectrum. When people find out that I'm artistic...suddenly I'm not a computer geek anymore?

I know this is going off into a rant, and I hope I don't regret any of what I post here. But people who assume that stereotyping will end after high school...prepare to be disappointed. It's still there, you just get stereotyped in different ways.