kestrel

kestrel
2019-03-20 01:47:01 (UTC)

Prompt 018: Better Back Then

18. What is something the past did better than the present day? Do you think that regression will improve going forward or get worse and why?
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I think the past did "leisure time" better than the present day. In the past, there were things still undiscovered. There were still methods left untested, stories yet to be written, truths to be learned. Even in idle time, people created things. It was done more for practical reasons or aesthetic reasons, as opposed to financial.

Nowadays, the general public assumes everything is known. Instead of engaging their curiosity, typical peoples' idle time is spent distracting and entertaining themselves. Boredom and jadedness has replaced curiosity. Average people think the only way to add variety to their lives is to do drugs or make children. If people create things, there's inevitable pressure to monetize it, to turn their hobby into their "side hustle." Something that they initially enjoyed and appreciated for the sake of doing it eventually turns into something that's more trouble than it's worth, becomes a nagging obligation instead of a source for joy.

I kind of feel like the "general public" I'm describing, at least at the moment. I feel rather exhausted and fatigued. Maybe I'm coming down with something. But the urge to create is slow in coming, and I feel like writing this is similar to pulling teeth. There are some personal issues and pressures currently weighing down on me, and I think that's the main cause of this.
- I have to move out of this house in a few weeks, because the neighbour's house burned down and the smoke and soot damage here needs to be remediated (I currently reside in a townhouse, which shares a wall with this fire-damaged building).
- I exhibit a number of my own game designs at a local convention happening next weekend.
- I am officiating my sister's wedding next month.
- The settlement from when the car hit me has yet to come through. I would appreciate that cash.
- I'm dating again.
- I am exhibiting some of my videogames at an event next month, and there's still work to be done with them.
- I am facilitating the night class once a week until early May.

I'm just beat at the moment. The temptation for distraction is strong. To "let the teevee do the playing for you," as Bart Simpson said in the -Life is Hell- comic strip back in the day. But I don't watch television. I don't even have a Netflix account.




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