Dear World

Please Kill Me,

It’s taken a while for me to catch up with the latest in pop-discussion. To be honest, for much of my career (my life really) the things that most people concern themselves with have seemed trivial. Sure. We’ll have the occasional milestone moment (i.e. celeb-scandal, hit-record, or President Cheeto Cheese’s latest snipe) but it rarely garners my interest. The news, as we now know, is little more than social programming. Simply put: everything is happening somewhere. It’s what we focus on that ultimately defines the tone of a given day.

This cognitive dissonance, between myself and the conversations at large, is neither beneficial nor detrimental. Again, due to the current state of news, there’s nothing that’s too hard to process (when needed). That’s what makes some things so easy to ignore. For that reason, I tend to wait until a situation boils over with facts before dipping a toe into the pool of fecal-infested coverage.

I prefer to appoint value and attention to things that mean something to me. Often times, this results in a story. Other times, you get one of these senseless rants fueled by vodka and general discontent (#ShoddyShots #DevilintheLiver). I like to do what I enjoy. I dive into things that are interesting to me. I study things that I don’t understand. I avoid the topics that revolve around or attract layers of nonsensical and emotionally-tied horseshit.

How else do we survive in a world that overvalues individual opinion and undervalues hard to swallow truths (don’t worry, the irony of that statement is not lost on me). Basically, my mind is a rogue warship. My enemies and allies are my own. Any collaborative event is simply circumstantial and rather fluid.

Obviously, everyone in the world can’t isolate themselves in such a way. Much of society (no matter where you are) is so dependent on the constant conversation that any voice can shift the narrative. Anecdotal evidence is heeded as if it were written in stone, by Moses, while Jesus gave him a backrub and God fed him grapes. It’s ridiculous but essential for discussion.

A cease-fire of this collaborative effort would leave us vulnerable to the opinions of those in power. We can’t have that either. Also, we can’t have everyone spinning in the cyclone of politics, socio-economical aspirations (or lack thereof), and whatever else they tell us to care about. Having those who value and successfully communicate their individual ideas is just as crucial to that collaborative conversation as anything else. Sometimes, it’s the only thing worth discussing in a given moment, for a given topic.

When we decide to forgo the popularity contest that life has become, we free ourselves from the preset list of priorities. “Screw how many followers I have I want to talk about unicorns.” That my friends is freedom incarnate. That’s the reason that such a large portion of us value the social-conversation. Because every once in awhile, one of these singular (nuclear submarine) ideas, breach the surface and dominate with an obvious truth. That truth becomes the discussion. We need both sides to see the matter to a semblance of conclusion.

The beauty of this is, that creative self-expression can come from anywhere. From anyone. It’s all about how we key into the idea. Again, we need both parties to achieve that end.

Ex:

Creative: Unicorns crap gold.

Constituent: There’s no such thing as unicorns.

Creative: We are the unicorns. The ‘gold’ represents our inherent value.

Constituent: *mind explodes*

This kind of conversation isn’t possible without mutual participation. Without that outlier idea, the social-conversation never really moves forward. It’s never disarmed. Why do you think that some tropes never go away? Some discussions keep coming back—despite the latest Kardashian-drama or political upheaval. It’s because, at the end of the day, we’re all still those monkeys in a cave—trying to figure things out. That is our inherent value. That is our worth. 7-billion+ piles of hot steaming gold. Sometimes, we just need a left-field reminder to help us coalesce.

Alternatively, we can’t all be this way. Sure, it’d be cool if everyone had their own focus and point of value (most of us do, to varying degrees). But without the common denominator touchstones, we wouldn’t know what the hell anyone was talking about. The unicorn conversation would become a little harder to grasp. We’d all divulge into our tribal position and end up creating smaller (less effective) versions of our current mass-discussion. Nothing would move forward. Expression as we know it would cease to exist. A ripple would never foster a tide—there’d be too many damn ripples, all flowing in different directions. Eating each other.

So, express if you must. Listen when you can. Remember your worth no matter which category you fall into. Eventually, the thing that’s missing might be you. It’s best to have something to say when it’s your time to speak. Just don’t forget the potential importance of what you say and how the other side responds.

Every answer in the world lies in a single color. That color is us as one.

A messy multi-faceted masterpiece.

Until Next Time,

Antwan Crump

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Bedlam: A Collection of Things Now Available on Google Books.