Gary
Author Comments aka Comic News
Change it is a changing
This comic has nothing to do with the rant I'm about to go into. This comic has to do with how you can't expect handouts in a martial art. You have to observe and steal any and all information you can. This isn't because teachers are hiding the information, but it's because they don't always even know all the knowledge they have to share, and sometimes what they're saying isn't actually what they're doing. Again this isn't because they're trying to deceive, it's just that they don't realize all that they're doing. They're also there to teach you a concept, not to teach you every single application of the concept, that's up to you to find out.
OK, now on to the "oh woe-est me rant." To start off, this isn't a cry for help. I'm not looking for support or compliments. I'm writing this, because it's something everyone has or will experience at least once in their life, and probably many more times than that. I'm writing this so people understand that, even though you feel alone and isolated, you actually aren't. So basically, I had one of those moments today, where I started asking myself the normal questions. Who am I? Why am I who I am? Is this who I want to be? What am I doing? Etc. This led me to really look at my life, and a majority of what I do is, in the grand scheme of things, really frelling pointless. My job, effects nothing for the better or worse in the world. This can be said about most jobs. Do you; program websites, design ads, design websites or most programs, work retail at almost any shop, act as a CEO or CIO at a large company, install cable? The list of jobs that effect almost nothing goes on and on., and for the most part, anyone could be put in your or my place in said job, and nothing (grand scheme of things) would change for the better or worse. So, what do we do to get over this? We get hobbies. I have this comic, and martial arts, both eat up a lot of time, and for the most part, neither of these change anything in the world for the better or worse, in any significant fashion. Maybe if I got a massive audience with the comic and used that audience to invoke change in the world, I could say other wise for the comic. On the same token, if I became some amazingly well known martial artist, and showed something that changed the lives of many (I do kind of believe that you start to become what you practice, so if one practices calm, patience, and kindness (not weakness, it's different), they then start to bring that into their every day lives), then maybe I could say that the martial arts hobby changed the world for the better, but at that point, it's no longer a hobby, it's instead a career or life, and I'm nowhere near that phase or level. I just practice.
So yeah, I looked at my life and in many ways, and found it wanting. Not wanting for things or experiences or loved ones, but wanting for meaning. I do have a lovely wife, a great family, two cats, bees, fish, and I feed squirrels and birds, but I want my life to impact more. I think that's also a common feeling in people. Most people want to leave their mark on the world, and most want to leave what they think is a good mark on the world. This makes me wonder, if this is what so many people want, then why is our society created to stop this at almost every turn? It's designed to make us obsess about money and things, mainly things that aren't important. So we waste our time making money to purchase those meaningless things. Those meaningless things then provide meaningless jobs to people, cycle complete. Then when we start to think about what we're doing, we're told to get a hobby, watch TV, read a book, have a kid, have pets, etc. I'm not saying those things aren't good or sometimes needed, but they distract us from helping/changing the world. The "have a kid" is kind of a gray area, and the "have pets" can be gray too (helping strays or abused animals). (side note, I was just distracted from write this several times by one of my cats who wanted to play, yay distractions)
All of this leaves one with a "what's the point" and "is it all meaningless" kind of feeling. This is something that shouldn't make one give up or end it all, it's something that should make one really try to figure out how to change their life to make it meaningful. Maybe the world needs to adopt a mandatory one to two years of service to others, post high school, that's funded (food and board) by governments. I don't know. I also don't have the power to enact that kind of change. All I can do is look to my own life, and I'm not sure what I'll do in that. Part of me tells me to dedicate my life to martial arts, like my teacher did. When I see how many lives he touched, in a good way, it does inspire me, but it's also a hard life. Another part of me tells me to find a way to create and change the world through wonder (aka inspire); write the books I've wanted to write, create the comic books I've wanted to create, paint, sculpt, invent. I don't know the answer for me, and I don't know the answer for anyone else, but I can say, we're not alone. We're not even the minority. So when you feel like this, know that everyone else has too. Don't let it crush you. Use it as motivation to change the world. Let us all see the good you can do. Then tell me what you did, maybe it will help me and others in these times figure out how they too can effect the world.
And so ends my rant.
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