Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - So cringe

No one has ever bothered asking me why I want to be a writer. They usually ask what kind of stories I like to write, but never why I write them. Maybe it's because the answer seems obvious. I guess it would be no different from asking someone why they want to be a singer, or an actor, or an artist. I'd imagine for anyone creative, the reason they do what they do is because they believe they have something they want to share with the world.

But is that the whole story?

Back in my twenties, I was going out with this girl who also enjoyed writing. I have no problem saying she was more talented than I was, and I had a great deal of respect for her. In any case, we would sometimes talk about writing and it was clear we had very different views on the matter. For her, writing was the end goal. She said she worked hard at her job because she wanted to eventually reach a point in her life where she didn't have to work, and she could spend all her time writing instead.

I was the opposite. I saw writing as a means to an end, not the end itself. I wanted to write something that would knock everyone's socks off and sell millions of copies so I'd never have to work again. But was that my end goal? Just to laze around and do nothing for the rest of my life?

I remember this one day the writer girl and I were walking through the streets of San Francisco when she asked me what I wanted to do with my life. We'd been drinking, and I triumphantly proclaimed, "I want to change the world!"

But when she asked me how I planned on doing that, I didn’t have a good answer. Turns out changing the world isn't easy.

But recently I’ve been thinking about what I said that day. I’ve also been thinking about why I want to be a writer, and I’m realizing it’s not just so I can write a book that will impress other people. That's just a means to an end. What I'm really interested in is what writing such a book can hopefully give me, and I'm not just talking about money. To me what might be even more valuable than the money is everything else that comes with being a well known author, or singer, or actor. How all of a sudden people will be interested in the things you have to say. How you will have a voice that can reach a far wider audience than before.

What’s sad to me is how all these celebrities seem to take this for granted. Sure they donate millions to end coronavirus, or hunger, or animal cruelty, or whatever else, but hardly any of them seem interested in fighting to change the current system.

Maybe it’s like that famous quote,"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Maybe our celebrities don't want to fight what's gotten them this far. What a waste.

Anyway, all this to say I guess I want to be a writer because I want to help change the world. Only now, I see a potential way of making that happen by way of Bitcoin Cash and sharing how it can increase human freedom and prosperity.

I'm sure many people reading this will say this is so cringe, or that I suffer from delusions of grandeur. I don't blame you. But at the same time, I can't help but think maybe that's exactly what the world needs more of. People who aren't afraid of being as cringey as possible.