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An Essay on Shrapnel

Started by AFK, November 20, 2008, 03:40:43 PM

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AFK

...and so that is how you got here. 

Did you get all of that?  Did you write it all down?  Are you feeling a little dizzy?  Woozy?  Congested? 

I know, I know, it is a lot to take in.  It is a lot to consider.  But the point isn't to consider it all at once.  It isn't the point to mull over every little facet of your past during every minute of your future.  After all, that isn't exactly living either.  But from this point forward, at least, you know better to know better.  To know yourself better and how your self is being developed even as you read this sentence.  Even now, you are being subjected to the shrapnel of occurrences around you:

BLAAMO!!  That chat you had with your mom just an hour ago. 

INCOMING!!  Your boss telling you there is no money for bonuses OR raises this year.

SHAZAAM!!  Your significant other suggesting the two of you should start seeing other people.

THWACK!!  That speeding ticket you just got for doing 70 in a 55. 

Any one of these bits of life can push you into different paths.  Perhaps the speeding ticket convinced you to ease up on the accelerator.  Or maybe, it ticked you off and you lay down even harder.  Maybe you and your Mom had the tiff of all tiffs and you decided not to go home for the Holidays.  Just think of THOSE family politics.  Perhaps the lack of a raise this year is the impetus for you to find a job that YOU ACTUALLY MIGHT ENJOY!

And then there are the combos.  Maybe it was that the news from the boss was the initiator for your call to your Mom, and it is in that conversation you realize you've been stuck in a rut professionally.  And of course as each of these incidents alter your course of action, you will then be set up for more incoming shrapnel.  But again, it's not that you need to wear a flak jacket for every step you take.  It's just that perhaps with that extra ounce of awareness; you will be able to have more proactive reactions instead of reactive protractions. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

Cramulus

:mittens:
I like it.

My one comment is that you've only got examples of shrapnel that's occuring now -- though I think some of the shrapnel that's affecting me now are things like a guy in a cartoon saying "Brains are better than brawn" to me when I was like 4, and my fifth grade teacher describing what his life after college was like. Maybe add some examples of how you're still reacting to shrapnel that hit you in childhood?

Overall, good piece, I really like the attention-grabbing, to-the-point style.

AFK

Hmm, good point.  I'll explore that and add soon. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

Payne

Yeah, I liked this too, but my criticism is it seems to focus on the negative things (at least on the face of it).

Good shit though.

AFK

I think I was in a bit of a negative head space when I wrote that. 
Cynicism is a blank check for failure.

Manta Obscura

Everything I wish for myself, I wish for you also.