Why do I feel so empty, /lit/?
I honestly never got the hype for DFW. I've only read This is Water and some quotes that are sometimes attributed to John Green but he seems like the kind of guy who writes shit for middle aged women to share with each other on facebook. Everything he says seems to be convinced that it is positive and anti-cynical in spite of overwhelming odds, as if it defines itself by it's lack of cynicism and false hope. Kind of like the notes that chocolate companies put on the inside of the wrappers to reassure fat menopausal women that their lives aren't really hollow hedonistic self parodies interspersed with humiliation and denial.
I may have misjudged him though but I doubt it
>>7439909
>I honestly never got the hype for DFW. I've only read This is Water and some quotes
>I may have misjudged him though but I doubt it
modern /lit/ everyone
Why do you feel so empty, OP?
>>7439909
>Inability to describe it
It's probably pretty banall
He cant describe it because he cant write.
How did he flunk] the period of inquiry to join Catholic Church? Was he being insincere?
>>7439941
That's probably because you've only been reading quotes from the internet, and quotes are by-and-large created by fat menopausal women, for fat menopausal women. His actual work is quite a bit better. And funny, too.
Is he a punk hipster?
>>7439909
Seems like a lot of people on here feel the way I do today. Sorry you feel crummy OP. Hope you and I both feel better.
>>7440208
He was too American to be Catholic. You find this in a lot of American Christians, it's awful.
>>7440825
America is 22% catholic man. The real issue is he was raised a secular midwesterner, and midwesterners are only ever not sanctimonious proddies if they were raised irish catholic
>>7439941
He killed himself as an act of literary apotheosis/martyrdom. Such faggotry. Unforgivable.
"I was depressed :("
>>7439909
I know why I do.
I am a shallow and borderline sociopathic person, yet for some reason I'm always surprised when people treat
me as such. I'm an insincere sycophant to an absurd degree and a victim of my own self destructive tendencies.
Unfortunately it seems that I am most certainly not a man of quality. I do not possess any intrinsic talent or admirable altruism. I am simply an addition to the faceless mass of self-centered transient people.
And my writing sucks.
And I'm ugly.
>>7440919
You're probably better than 99% of the world at something. Just find what it is and monetize it.
I'm of the belief that if you feel empty or did at one point feel empty and begin to realize why than you are more self-aware than almost everybody alive today. Self-aware does not equal intelligence but it shows you have the capability to succeed based off internal logic as long as you inject some motivation into your life to accomplish something. Motivating yourself could be as easy as "faking it til you make it."
Besides the sociopath part you sound like me, and while I haven't found the cure to not feeling empty, I realize I have some quality, some talent that most others do not possess to my degree. Maybe I am deluding myself and my talent in that field is no better than others, but thinking and believing I have proof that I am more talented has motivated me more than I ever have before
nice pic
>>7440942
>You're probably better than 99% of the world at something. Just find what it is and monetize it.
lmao the ideology is so pure i could snort it
>>7440945
I was being sarcastic with the monetize part. I can't stand that phrase. Just find something you think you're good at and enjoy and pursue it with passion. It may make you feel less empty. It did for me
>>7440942
>everybody is good at something
>we are le special snowflakes
Holy shit kill yourself you self declared "sociopath"
protip you're just autistic
>>7440919
Let me just fuck your shit up familia
>>7440951
It's unlikely than you're less than average in every field you attempt, especially if you're posting on this board right now. You can fill a void with work, especially if you think you are good at that work. This is pretty true in my experience
If you are worse than the average at everything than my bad.
I also said I wasn't a sociopath
>>7440942
> I realize I have some quality, some talent that most others do not possess to my degree.
>You're probably better than 99% of the world at something. Just find what it is and monetize it.
I don't think it'll be easy to monetize shitposting.
>>7439909
If you're a man alive in 2015, then you feel empty because you need to work with purpose at something where you feel necessary. Most jobs don't make you feel needed, don't challenge you for long, and don't foster cameraderie. You also probably don't feel needed in your personal life because any woman who's with you is likely shopping around, and you're too old to feel captivated by her anyway. You probably go through the day on autopilot more than you realize, judging every situation by routines you've learned and not really thinking about them very often. Your brain needs to solve problems, but modem conveniences have made even preparing a banquet a matter of setting timers and mixing up stuff from boxes. You also probably don't get enough sunlight or exercise or remember the last time you felt warm sun and fresh crunchy snow and saw a wild animal going about its business completely apart from the hands of men.
>>7440919
Why did I feel like we're the same person?
>>7440898
crazy that you know why he killed himself
>>7440975
Nice post friend, did you write that yourself or is it a quote from something?
>>7440975
>fight club feels
>primitivist concerns
>>7440975
too cynical man, go to school at night and get a better degree, so you can get a better job. i feel like if you're bored in 2015 it might be because you're boring, no offense.
>>7440991
I think this board attracts a certain mindset.
When pressed, I think most posters here would admit a level of self-loathing.
>>7440999
Not prinitivist at all.
These are things that could potentially be addressed by a culture that values mental health without going primitivist at all. The problems came from rapid tech advancement, but it's a huge failure of imagination to say that those problems can only be solved by reverting to the Stone Age.
>>7441008
Nigga I have a great job and feel fine now. I'm just speaking from prior experiences with feeling empty and what psychology has found on the subject thus far. No need to get touch senpai.
>>7440942
>You're probably better than 99% of the world at something
Not really though. I've come to a point in my life where I've realized I'm not good at anything. The things I've devoted a lot of time to I'm not even very good at and it makes it so hard to persist. Not everyone is special. With a lot of hard work you can be decent enough to impress people who don't do what you do.
Imagine you tell a girl you can bench press 100kg. It might seem impressive to her, but to other guys who workout it's literally nothing.
>>7440919
I overlap marginally with your self-description
I'm shallow and superficial yet i abhor flagrant displays of such traits, as if I truly desire the lacquered, unmistakable appearance of substance just as much as substance itself.
The MO of my every life action is to appear likable, fueled by a tinder of insecurity. I'm not self-loathing but I don't particularly like anything about myself.
I want to achieve something great in life or die by suicide, and although years of cultivating talent I have yet to see its fruits.
I'm a fish in a sea of automatons, solipsistically dreaming that I'm something different, a gentle thrum of denial and suicidal thoughts running through me, the only thing preventing me is the thought of upsetting my parents, who I would like to spare the grief after all the time and energy and money that's been funneled into my productive existence on this planet. I can't even call this selflessly motivated though, it's as much I don't want to look pathetic dying as I'm concerned of their grieving
Because you waste time with garbage animals like DFW.
>>7441060
All the good animals are already taken. That's why he had to settle for writing about boring-ass people.
>>7440942
>I'm of the belief that if you feel empty or did at one point feel empty and begin to realize why than you are more self-aware than almost everybody alive today
With the market share of the American population running on antidepressants, which I'm not even on, I have a tough time believing I'm more self-aware than 'most' people, or even a fraction of the population
I have a burgeoning talent in writing but am lost on what to do with it for a career.
>>7441066
>I have a burgeoning talent in writing
>>7441066
I was going to reply with something long but got bored. Seems to me that most of the users of antidepressants take them because they believe there is something wrong with their brain that needs to be changed, while the truth is that if they changed, either their lifestyle or diet or some other vital thing, they would feel better and not feel empty. you are (hypothetically) more self-aware because maybe you understand that it's your way of living and choices that is causing your brain to fuck up, not some random aberration of the brain that somehow effects most of the purchasing population of the US.
I don't think it's crazy to think that taking antidepressants are not the result of self-awareness but a way to avoid self-awareness that could be destructive to one's lifestyle if considered too deeply
So yeah, you're probably more self aware. maybe not though, idk
>>7441080
as in, it's something in the process of cultivation, I've seen myself grow from a shit writer a thousand tiny steps towards being an alright writer, and I have no reason to suppose that it's just going to stop suddenly
>>7440919
I'm a good relaxed guy, whose arrogant; but in a friendly way that's halfcut with self-deprecation too. I'm a pretty talented writer and quit handsome, or at least I've been told: you guys probably wouldn't agree with much of that though, I'm just an affable bullshitter at heart - don't bother yourselves with my boasting.
