Entering A Quarter Life Crisis

As I sat down to distill from the chronicle of my life's adventures what 26 noteworthy ideas that have affected me, I'm having a quarter life crisis and I had to write this. I turned 26 today and I have been feeling blue and I'm having trouble sleeping.

#26 Existentialism as a philosophy of life

Existentialism as a philosophy of life I would like to begin by saying I found Sartre by accident yet this coincidence has given me he gift of Existentialism as a philosophy from the idea that life is meaningless yet it is for us to give meaning to our lives the best we can.

#25 The call of freedom

FDR's four freedom speech was something I read in middle school these ideals of FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION, FREEDOM OF EVERY PERSON TO WORSHIP GOD IN HIS OWN WAY, FREEDOM FROM WANT and FREEDOM FROM FEAR is the cornerstone of my political beliefs.

#24 “That's the problem with life, you either know what you want, and you don't get what you want, or you get what you want, and you don't know what you want." -BoJack Horseman

A golden nugget from the great Netflix show about a depressed horse.

#23 Hell is other people

Sartre's masterpiece Huis Clos ends with the above quote how true hell really is other people.

#22 Resist Temptation

“What isn't my temptation? I want to say. There are so many. There's chocolate and social media but the worst temptation might be the temptation to give into one's self-doubt and loops of self-critique, there's envy and also the temptation to rummage around the pantry cabinet for snacks or the large tub of ice cream in the back of the fridge.

#21 Ergonomics

A comfortable chair, a bigger screen and a tactile keyboard can reduce the strain of school work keeping me at least productive longer than I would be able to.

#20 I still don't know what I'm doing with my life

"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life

The most interesting people I know

Didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives

Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't"

I read Everybody's Free(To Wear Sunscreen) in middle school and this quote is imprinted in my mind I think some of us take time to find our place in this planet and that's okay I started freshman year of college when I was 24.

#19 Self-Hosting

A Pandemic project of mine was to move all of my data out of the cloud after all our data isn't really private with cloud storage providers and this gave life to my Unraid Server and all I had to do was learn a bit of Linux and that was a challenge I would not like to undertake again after the childhood trauma that was MS-DOS and Win 95.

#18 Self-Love

For the longest time the concept of self-love has eluded me I read somewhere the first step to loving someone is to learn to love yourself but what is self- love?

#17 Carry a diary

Since High School I have carried a pocket diary I have a journal with a few entries but my pocket diaries are filled with the things I want to remember I do also archive them for future references it's a handy guide.

#16 The age of loneliness

What the Pandemic taught me is I too have felt lonely even when I'm with my family and friends is it social media, the disconnected way modern relationships are built or is it just me and the never ending grind to make it.

#15 Unionize

Unionize your workplace!

Support for ACT-UAW 7902 and all other Unions that are striking solidarity with my brothers and sisters.

#14 Find a style

People who know me can attest I started dressing better and found a style that can help me build a wardrobe thanks to my friends especially,.

#13 There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.-Buddha

#12 Optimism

I am cockeyed optimist I still believe that tomorrow is going to be much better than the present we live in the pessimists and doomsayers have always been proven wrong humanity has always prevailed even in our darkest hours.

#11 This is Water

I'm one of those fools who will still tell everyone the best decision you can make is get a liberal arts education, What it really means to have a liberal arts education is so you can think for yourself, adapt to change as the core of liberal arts education is a set of skills that can never be outdated.

#10 Discover and express your sex and sexuality

I have always closeted my Bisexuality yet my time in college has made me feel freer to talk about my sexuality and the different partners in my time at Lang who helped me to grow and accept my kinks, sex can be so much more intimate and fun.

#9 You could have ADHD

Getting tested and medicated for ADHD has been a gamechanger my attention span is longer than a goldfish and have been able to achieve my own personal goals.

#8 Learn to be vulnerable

I learnt this in freshman year to truly love requires a person to be vulnerable it is a courageous act yet cowering out only harms your chance to find hapiness.

#7 The joy of physical objects

The ephemeral nature of Physical objects photographs, physical media like Vinyl's and Cassettes or the resurgence of 35mm/120mm film and Super 8 is a fight against eroding ownership over our own lives and increasingly it's the fight for something to hold onto.

#6 The News is Broken

I am a News Junkie and the gradual shift from somber news reporters to rabid panelists debate has destroyed decency in Politics, Newspapers shutting down have increased the descent of fracturing of societies, Tribalism and the rampant capitalism is destroying the news.

#5 The world is unstable

The past 25 years can neatly be summed up with global instabilities from what is increasingly looking like a war that might end all wars to rising inflation a global pandemic with sprinkles of two full blown recessions and terrorism in the past yet these unlimited disasters haven't stopped the torrents of Natural disaster, global warming or Unusual weather to occur.

#4 Truth is stranger than fiction(at least with Government Matters)

Watch Yes Prime Minister and you'll understand how competently absurd the ship of state really is. If you think a Nuke hasn't ever just exploded by accident is just blind luck, well a head of cabbage could outlast Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng as PM and Treasury secretary in the UK.

#3 Travel Solo

Travel alone, and you have the freedom to pursue your particular interests in your own time to slow down in the places that interest you probably the Modern Art Museum and you could find your aesthetic sense in a world where culture is varied and a world filled with different colors.

#2 Reconnect with your inner-child

This is a life long work to reconnect with your inner child so build a Lego Set, Finish that Puzzle reconnect with your give it a space for it to heal

#1 Go to therapy

Deal with your Traumas or it will control your destiny trauma can pass down generations and sometimes it's your responsibility to take control I'm sorry for the hurt I might have caused to people in my life but 6 months in I want to be better.