I had this moment recently while scrolling on social media: “damn, none of this is inspiring.”
But then I came across this constant rush of art and the artist that made them.
I was instantly re-inspired by the creativity, the ingenuity, and the way that it altered my thought process.
It was disruptive and I liked it.
I’ve always been one to question the status quo and scrutinize the “why” behind things.
- What’s the point?
- Who’s benefiting?
- Who’s “winning”?
- Why?
- And who’s suffering for others to win?
Perceived reasons why…
Chasing the bag; the big house; the endless ambitious drive that’s anti-rest;
The constant search for happiness; the addiction to something or someone else being the answer to your problems;
The continued disregard for environmental destruction because you still have to pay your bills;
The acceptance of constant suffering because “that’s just life”; the desire to be someone else or have what someone else has.
Or simply just greed, control, and power that you’ve adopted as your own ambitions.
These are often the reasons why we tend to fall in line, to stay on the path already cleared that could grant you some level of stability, success, comfort, or even luxury.
But sometimes I have to ask myself, at what cost?
What do I gain by following the status quo or by having the same goals as everyone else (especially when those goals don’t actually resonate with me)?
What do I begin to resist or push back against when it comes to justifying what I’ll do for money, status, or power?
And do I feel shame for even questioning these things, or fear that my unwillingness to participate in these ways of thinking and being my place me in the outskirts of society?
And the biggest question: how willing am I to participate and what am I willing to give to do so?
To be disruptive or not?
I don’t like to think so much in terms of good or bad, haves or have not. It’s all relative and changeable.
What do I like to think about is the cost-benefit analysis and my feelings, primarily those of doubt vs. resolve, that influence how dedicated I may be to something.
If I don’t like an ideal, where do I stand?
If I don’t like a pre-curated path, then am I willing to blaze my own path?
If I don’t like conventional thinking, then where am I willing to disrupt the standard flow to gain new insights?
How disruptive am I willing to be in my own life? And how will this disruption influence my timeline?
Funny how the beginning of disruptive thinking = questioning everything.
This entire article is essentially nothing but questions, and it’s best that way.
To begin pursuing something else, something new, we often have to question what was and what is.
And my favorite contemplation remains the same: you can’t expect to achieve something different if you have no plans of thinking and doing something different.
It’s that different that disrupts your current flow, process, and behaviors. But’s it’s also that different that creates a new path for something richer, new, and entirely you to grow.
Do you have to have the same goals as everyone else? No.
Do you have to have the same level of ambition as everyone else? No.
Do you have to feel the same way as everyone else? No.
But it is our shared humanity to being — to live different lives yet be able to share emotions.
Becoming a disruptive thinker and doer requires you to know where you stand, what you want, and what you’re willing to do or not do — the risks you’re willing to take.
If you want status quo, then you’ll achieve that.
But, if you crave something deeper, wider, endless, unimaginable, and possibly frowned upon, then you have to look at how to do things differently, radically, and divergently.
Becoming unconventional starts as a thought and ends as a choice.
What do you think? Share a time in your life where stepping into the unconventional was the answer.
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EcoWell Co. 