“ — If tomorrow I say that a gang banger will get shot or a truck load of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics because it’s all a part of the plan…
Nobody panics when things go according to plan…Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos.” (-Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight) I’ve seen more than enough serial killer documentaries to know there has been a vast contrast between various cases. While one chose to randomly kill innocent civilians, another believed he was helping the Devil in killing any and all prostitutes. Individuals living in the area of the first case showed more concern and interest within the case. As for the second, most chose to care less…because it’s according to plan that a person that chooses to do as they wish with their body would be putting themselves in a place of such danger. Kind of like “she had it coming to her.”
We often tend to believe that the world is just and fair, and that it’s all preorganized with everything in its place at the time it’s needed. That we live in a perfect world where the good people thrive and the bad perish and soon, “get what they deserve.” We find comfort in believing this because we know what to expect. Humans fear the unknown and disorderly. So we cling on to routine and what is safe, such as having the same personality traits as the next. Or doing the same exact activities each and every day in and out. When we “live” this way, we tend to go our whole lives without actually experiencing life for what it truly is. Slowly, one will wane to a robot on autopilot for most of one’s life.
As my dad would see it, having a daily routine is less stressful. Not knowing what would come next is terrifying and there is no way to ever know if you will be prepared for it. “If you fail to plan, plan to fail” as my dad loves to live by. But I see the opposing. Every single plan I have ever made in my life has never went as I mapped out…ever. To me, having a plan blow up in your face when your hopes are high is far more stressful than taking things as they come. Life is messy in every way possible and to come to terms with understanding that you are never in control is the first step to becoming alive and actually living in comparison to mere survival. “It wouldn’t be fair to have a life and only be half of ourselves/alive.” (-Aquamarine)
At a young age, this idea of what our lives should look like at X, Y, and Z age is deeply planted into our minds. As we become on the brink of becoming these ages, we fill of anxieties not being “up to par” as the rest of society because it’s not according to the plan. As society would see it, being almost twenty-four, I am supposed to be engaged, if not married, with at least one kid, have a house, and a full-time job. As reality would have it, I’m single with no kids, I still live at home, my work situation is chaotically unstable to say the least, and I soon plan to see the world. In the eyes of society (including all those close to me), I am rebelling against the established order and am wrong for doing so.
I used to be that person to conform with the expectations of society allowing them to make me into someone I wasn’t happy being. All in all, I wasn’t happy in any way because I was never up to par with their expectations of perfectionism and what they asked of me to be. Letting go of this black and white thought process that most tend to obtain has freed me in countless ways. There is more than one way to live, one way to be/act…I was always afraid to show that I loved poetry because it didn’t align with how I “came off.” To others, me liking poetry wasn’t “a part of the plan.” The world needs more color with authenticity. Disturb the established order by being and living what feels best to you. Living is the key term.
