The Banality of Adulthood

Date: May 8, 2013 Time: 2:29 pm
Current state: Restless
Location: The Office
Weather: Greeey

Today's menu :
Morning
Kashi GoLean Crunch
Honey Greek Yoghurt
Coffee w/milk
Afternoon
Frozen lunch (chicken and veggie potstickers w/rice and veg)
Bowl of carrots
Banana Chips
Apple
Gum
Evening
Chicken stir fry
Beer
Lo fat/cal ice cream

The above video has been making it's way around the social network today. I didn't really want to watch it, mostly because I was worried it was another "Kony-esque" video that will inspire me for about 15 minutes until internet truth mongers start picking it apart,  thus deflating my give-a-damn. I decided to watch it after Gawker told me to (because I always do what Gawker tells me to), and I found myself connecting to what David Foster Wallace was saying.

If you haven't watched it yet, I really encourage you to.

Go ahead.

I'll wait.

Done? Okay.

I think everyone will draw their own "moral to the story" from Wallace's speech, but here's what I got: we have the opportunity to control how we react to the banality of every day life. I say opportunity because how we react to several every-day scenarios is an opportunity to learn and grow. It can also be a missed opportunity which puts us on the same banal track we've been traveling on. In short: listen more, judge less, never stop learning and your life will be a kaleidoscope rather than a daily chore.

The message is especially poignant considering the source: David Foster Wallace suffered crippling depression, which lead to his eventual suicide; yet his message is disarmingly sanguine. Perhaps it was the way he wished the world could be, so we could cope with one another a little better.

I know today's post is a little off-topic, but perhaps it's not.

So tell me: how do you cope? What do you, or can you, do to break up the every-day? Hit me in the comments.

Summer out.