The Side Note:
After a two-week hiatus that I’m secretly hoping continues, Twenties Weekend Letters are back! It actually feels great to be back.
We thank MJ for giving us some time off though.
That said, do you ever think about society’s definition of success and how suffocating it can be? Sometimes, it feels like no matter what you do, you’re still underachieving.
In today’s post, our guest writer mixes some brilliant elements together to come up with a short insightful post that may just help you learn how to breathe in a society that chokes you with exaggerations of the meaning of success.
— safe space writers.
So, here’s the thing — Everything has changed. The world has shifted gears and nothing is the same as before. Sex and Gender are no longer binary. Patriarchy is no longer acceptable, and success is no longer enough.
The first two, are positive changes, but the last is worrisome, to say the least.
Again for emphasis, success is no longer enough.
Doing good and doing well are no longer achievements. Time is a defining factor, now.
You see, to be truly successful, you must succeed YOUNG. It is the only way your efforts will matter.
Therefore, if you are 20, “25" is your deadline. You must get moving and do it quickly. The teenagers are already winning.
For the most part, however, people cannot live up to this standard. Therefore, if you are not yet successful, you must settle for the next best thing — the appearance of success.
You must buy clothes you cannot afford to attract those who can. You must get phones with the best picture quality to gloss your life over. You must learn accents you do not have, to communicate with your helpers.
It is a neat operation really.
You act like the wealthy, to become a part of the wealthy. Kim Jong Un and Kim Kardashian did it — Why the hell shouldn’t you?
Sadly again, most people cannot afford even this fakeness.
You see, iPhones are expensive and “Lekki” is a status symbol. Therefore, if you can get any of these, you are at least middle class. You are in the far minority.
So… if you cannot afford the glow of success, you must at least take on a flicker, and by “flicker”, I mean potential.
Simply put, you must have hope. You must look like you’re “going somewhere.” When they speak of you, people must say, “This one has a future.” You must be a sense-making guy or gal. Opinions will be your new currency.
You must stock and trade heavily in them. You must learn how to speak pidgin and “whine” in the presence of “masculine” heterosexual men. You must learn how to listen and smile in the presence of angry “feminist” women. You must learn how to bend to every corner. You must kiss everyone’s ass, so they can kiss yours back.
And so, there begins your journey of personal branding, and the burden of your praise. You will be everyone’s friend but none will be yours. You will have opinions and speak nothing of them. You will do what it takes to become Beyonce and Wizkid.
Of course, I realize I’ve spent the larger part of this essay giving you “tips” on achieving “success”.
But I hope you will see them not as “Do’s”. I hope you’ll see them as “Don'ts”.
Please — Leave your house with that baggy shirt you like. It’s old but comfortable and you will feel like yourself in it. Speak your mind to friends and foes alike. It’s dangerous and uncomfortable, but the world will thank you for it. Give yourself the space to be human. “GOAT” is a four-letter word that is bound to change faces, but there will only ever be one “You”.
The poet, Mary Elliot Bard once asked…
“Now, dear child, What do you plan to do with your one precious life?”
I recommend quite simply… Living it!
Post-credit notes:
That’s right. The Avengers will give you post-credit scenes, Twenties Weekend Letters will give you post-credit notes! If you read this guest post to this point, we’d like to say a few more familiar things — Thank you very much!
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