Column A and Column B

There is a sad fact out there that we, as a people, argue about our differences. We argue about politics because we have different opinions of what we want from government. We argue about religion because we have different beliefs of what it means to be a good person and what happens when you die. We argue about whether World of Warcraft is better than Everquest 2 because we want different things from our gaming experiences. These arguments will never be won because these differences can never be changed. We are all different in every way, and we always will be. Never is this a bad thing, but sometimes, we forget that people aren't all the same.

Say we like to listen to jazz music, and we try to get others to listen to it. Partly, it's because we think we are nice people and want to share this great thing which has enriched our lives. Well, if that were only the case, why would there be arguments over whether classical is better than jazz, and heavy metal reigns supreme over rap? Because we don't just do it for the other person's benefit. We do it to justify our own position. If we can convince someone else to like what we like, then that makes the bond we have with them stronger, and makes that like more defensible.

Or does it?

When it comes right down to it, we put ourselves out there with what we like. It's too easy to say "Anybody who likes XXX is a moron" and hurt those peoples' feelings. Mocking anything will always be safer than admitting you enjoy it. That's why things like South Park and, sometimes, Penny Arcade seem cowardly to me, at times. When you refuse to take a stance, you are basically going on a tiny little superiority trip. You are better than everyone who likes XXX because they must be a moron to like something you see no value in.

I think that sometimes we forget that we don't have the same values. I may feel a little superior to people who think Jeff Foxworthy is funny, but then, I didn't grow up in the kind of households that can identify with his jokes. I laugh at jokes that take on a political, observant and even mathematical nature because I've studied enough of these subjects that I can get them. I don't think it's geeky to laugh at a math joke. It's geeky to know enough math to get the joke. If you don't get math jokes, you feel left out. To feel better, you attribute some sort of problem with liking math jokes.

Even beyond nurture, we've got nature to thank. We are not created equal, in a sense, because we each have very different things to bring to and take from the table of life. These things are not as simplistic as you may initially think, either. We have different things which we need in order to function, and as strange as it sounds, this need is not what we generally credit. We have this perception that we need basic things like food, shelter, exercise, clothes, and stuff like that. True as it may be that those basic needs are there to keep the body running, what about the mind? Or the spirit? What do those need?

This is different between people. In my case, I need to be creative, and will do anything to keep my creative juices flowing. I know that I'm a smart individual, and yet I dropped out of college. The reason is because I didn't have the room I needed to be creative. Well, that and other complications, but mostly the creative thing. I've quit more than a few jobs that I've had in the past in complete disgust because I was typically shoved into a retail environment or a cubicle of some sort and told to do work in a very specific, and typically non-agreeable way. I need to find my path between A and B. My path has to be none other than my own. It cannot be your path.

This need for creativity presses down on all aspects of my life. Tasks which require no creativity are essentially like pressing needles into my eyes. Yes, I am fully capable of doing these things. It's just that I never really think to do them. It's kind of like doing all your homework, only to find out the next day that you forgot to do an English paper that was due. It's like you meant to write it, but it slipped your mind because it wasn't important to you. You knew you'd get it done in no time, so you didn't worry about it. It was just such a non-event that it never even registered with you.

As such, I'm pretty much socially retarded. I can't do simple things like operate a washer, because the second I learn how to use it, that information is gone within ten minutes. In all honesty, I sometimes forget how to properly put on my socks. These are what I could consider flaws. They prevent me from ever functioning in the real world, but that doesn't mean that I can't contribute to it. I created this blog, as well as the short stories that I've been writing lately, because the only way I can contribute to the world is if I am my own worldly boss and have the freedom to explore my creativity in every way.

There are people in my life right now that are completely unlike me. They are responsible and dependable in every way that I am not. I will tell you right now that as much creativity as I have, you wouldn't be reading this right now were it not for one of those people.

There are other outside influences to consider, as well. The people who run this site, for example, are the ones who got the domain name, deal with the server stuff, etc.

All told, the only thing that I do with this blog is provide an opinion that a vast majority of people I show this to simply look over. I have every reason to believe that I can make a modest living off of my writing abilities, but that takes time which God provides me. It takes technical support which He delivers. And it takes patience, of which He has an infinite amount.

When it comes down to it, it's the talents of people who aren't me that make everything that I do possible. We do our parts to make sure that the things I write remain either funny, edifying, or, at the very least, not a total waste of time. Without God, there'd be no creativity n me. Without the people who run this site, there'd be no blog here for you to read. Without the support of my friends, I probably never would have gotten to the point where I started this thing up again.

I've started probably over a thousand different creative projects, and only finished maybe two or three of them. Why? Because I went at them alone. That mistake caused each project to be abandoned after only a few days. Weeks, at most.

My friend and I are in the process of creating a comic in the hopes of putting here on the Interwebz for the enjoyment of all who happen to stumble upon it. Being an artist is something he knows about and is good at, which means that he can support this project well past where I would've gotten frustrated and quit. This comic exists because he helps it to do so. That, and he's willing to pick me up and slap me silly until I have the drive to get things done.

It's not that I'm incapable of doing these things. It is within my ability to learn how to do things like that, I'm sure, just like it's completely in Jon's ability to write out a lot of the script and storyline. I think the reason we are good at the things we do is because we have no uncertainty when it comes to working towards our strengths. When I write anything, it is completely within my creative power. I'm in control. When Jon does something as simple as change a few minor details in one of the panels, he's in control. Or at least controlling his involvement with it. But when the roles are switched, there is a certain amount of uncertainty that we both would face. I am not naturally dependable, and being so is quite draining for me. I expect that he isn't quite as good at writing things as I am (not sure, because the subject hasn't really ever come up), and being so is probably quite draining for him, as well.

It's easy to see how this blog wouldn't exist without me to paint pictures with my words. That's almost too obvious. What isn't, though, is that creativity is too crafty to exist in a vacuum. If you can create an entry that was actually awesome to read, then you can write pretty much anything else out there. Everything will fail at the slightest weakness, though, but there's always a new creative project ready to take its place. Every project that I've ever tried to do has failed except the comic that I'm working on now with Jon - and that's because this isn't just my project. It's our project; it belongs to Jon, myself, and everybody that's been giving us feedback since its inception.

So maybe being different isn't so bad. When you are flawed, perhaps there is someone else out there equally flawed, but in different ways. Maybe the fact that we disagree in politics is what keeps us honest. Maybe the Conservatives complete the Liberals, and vice versa. They are weak individually, but together are capable of making a tiny group of thirteen colonies and eventually becoming one of the most powerful nations in the world. With just one viewpoint, this country would've crumbled under its own weight centuries ago.

If we all belonged to one religion, we'd all be extremists. We wouldn't have conflicting points of view to keep us honest. We'd ignore science, and pretend that dinosaurs didn't exist. We'd truly be in a third-world dark age. But science alone is amoral. Religion keeps science sane; keeps it from going too far. There are a million questions out there that science can answer that perhaps we shouldn't be in such a hurry to discover just yet. WE can move slowly because society can't handle the kind of all-encompassing changes that science can go through on a regular basis. They are at odds with each other, but in a strange way, they support each other through their differences.

I present to you that it is our differences which make us stronger. I don't think I've ever really appreciated that, before. I've paid lip service to the idea, surely, but it never really hit home until just recently. We are different. We should be different. And no matter how much it angers us that someone else isn't like us, the solution isn't to despise one another. By all means, stay mad - so long as it keeps you honest. But understand that it would really suck if we were all the same.