'Tis the season for bad postry and trite, clichéd thoughts. People love a rite of passage and everyone is obligated to attend, even those that hate them and do not desire them at all. Across this great nation, and perhaps the world, people are performing poetry that rhymes "love" with "above," equates people with gifts from God and talks about how they went "above expectations."
I hate social recognition of accomplishment... Accomplishment is its own reward.
A year ago I was forced to attend a graduation ceremony. I had never attended one before (as a recipient... I had suffered through many other people's ceremonies), but I was doing so for my family.
We all suffered that day... People quoted the same people that are always quoted, gave advice (because advice in any other context is much worse than vague, blanket statements to thousands of graduates) that was boring AND worthless, and recognized people for being better than average.
Perhaps people are passage rite junkies; they are incapable of believing that people change without recognizing it in a social context.
I believe in continuous change; I hold an implicit theory that change is incremental. I do not need a ceremony or title bestowed upon myself to know that I have grown. Why do others?
No-one enjoys a rite of passage; they are all things done out of obligation and due to social expectation. Perhaps if they made new material or served alcohol they would be more enjoyable.
Categories: rites, passage, commencement
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I went to my high school graduation on.... zero hours of sleep... and after drinking a massive cup of coffee from Starbucks that had a quadruple shot of espresso. Needless to say, I was pretttty out of it.
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