The Faceberg struck gold with this one:

Normies are the real nihilists. They believe in nothing and exist only to exist. They exhibit no passion, no emotion, no yearning for something beyond themselves. They are content to wallow in mud and gorge themselves on gluten free, non GMO, organic slop from the Content Farm.

I don’t mean to say I’m better than these people, but I work with several in their early 30s who are in the same role.

They’ve done nothing with their lives since college. They don’t want to do anything. They collect paychecks, pay rent, and complain.

They’re the walking dead.

And I don’t really care either how they choose to live their lives. If they want to live paycheck to paycheck, smoke weed everyday, and complain about everything…go ahead.

It’s just pitiful to eek out an existence like that without creating, without passion, without living.

I want everyone to create something. Doesn’t matter what it is; everyone has different talents.

Write a book. Make a film. Paint a painting. Build a piece of furniture. Engineer a new tool. Start a business. Compose a song. Develop software. Grow potatoes.

Just make something.

The act of creation defies nihilism because it adds value to a world where value is increasingly abstracted and destroyed.

You as a creator will rise above you as a consumer. Instead of saying “I watched that, I ate that, etc.” you will say “I filmed that, I cooked that, etc.”

Do we just assume that other people are normies because we don’t ask about their hopes and dreams and their side gigs? Maybe.

Do we come across ourselves as normies by not leading with what we do in our off time? Perhaps. It’s also a survival strategy. Nobody at a corporate-type job really cares.

But I have talked with quite a few coworkers about what they do after hours, and what they want out of life. I have yet to encounter someone who is as motivated as I am. This goes for multiple jobs, in different circumstances (one in the city, one in a small town), different states, different people in different stages of life.

One described her ideal day as staying home, laying on the couch, and watching TV all day.

I couldn’t do that

I think about this bit from Mad Men a lot: