I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
—H.P. Lovecraft
Happiness has never been my aim. I'm not too interested in the anesthetized comforts that so many mistake for fulfillment. It is a pale and transient thing, happiness, a surface glimmer that vanishes the moment one gropes for it. The soul needs fire, not ease. Trials and tribulations of an agonizing passion that propels it toward its destiny. It needs adventure, daring shenanigans, and a fierce audacity to transcend that culturally-defined, yet loathsome word we call "expectations." I'm not here to squander this brief life on vain preoccupations or foolish ambition, chasing the manufactured ideals of success that so much of modern society idolizes. That's not where it's at. These are all but mirages, distractions that lead us away from the wisdom of the blood. True success is not found in conforming, nor is it measured by wealth and shiny possessions. It comes as a derivative of an uncommon vitality, by following one’s deepest instincts, by obeying the subtle whisper of the soul rather than the clamor of the world. I chase no approval, no validation—only a little freedom to create, to become. With little, I am more. Life is not about waiting to be shaped by circumstance, or accommodating the whims of leaders and charlatans, it is about shaping oneself, carving one's own name into the weathered stone of being. We all stand at the eternal crossroads every moment of our lives. Either we yield to the illusions of this fabricated world, allowing it to mold us into passive onlookers, dulled by empty distractions and half-baked ambitions, exchanging the fire of our own becoming for the false gods of security and routine, forsaking the deep call that stirs within. Or we will choose the path of the outsider— a rebel in the truest, most metaphysical sense. We will uncover within ourselves a deep and unshakable truth, and we will cast our lives into the tumultuous sea of fate, denying ourselves no experience, tearing away the veil of artifice to see the world as it truly is. We will either become benumbed spectators in the arena of life or impassioned creators we were born to be, unapologetically alive and in harmony with the primal force that called us into existence.
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Good line that “success comes… by obeying
the subtle whisper of the soul
rather than the clamor
of the world.”
AMEN! Although tough at times, embracing the outcast within is so liberating! 💯