Questions & Answers

Hey Terra,

I'm having so many things going on. I'm 15 years old and I'm feeling so alone these days. I remember being very happy and relaxed back in the 90s, when I was a little kid. I went through the new millennium and I feel as if fate has taken everything I've known, ripped it to pieces, and given me lots of stuff I don't need and don't want. I'm sick of the same crap, like Internet commercials, summer blockbuster movies, plotless violent Xbox games, and how people celebrate being mean or hateful, and practically worship stupidity! I hate this! I feel I have to make a change somehow. But what really ticks me off is that most of my friends at school love this stuff.

Megaman

Dear Megaman,

I'm so glad that you took the time to write to me. You're obviously a deep thinker and your level of self-awareness is impressive for your age.

I can totally understand the frustration, resentment, cynicism and confusion you are experiencing. I can also appreciate your nostalgia for years past, when you were "happy and relaxed" and, in many ways, completely unaware of who you were and how you fit into to the scheme of things.

Part of the struggle of growing up is finding out what you stand for and what you're going to do with the talents you've got. It's all about choice, you know. You can become endlessly mired in pop culture, allow it to dictate your values, and "celebrate" it, as your friends seem to be doing, or you can choose not to buy into it on any level.

While your intellectual gifts may make you sad and angry about all the "plotless and violent" media being peddled as entertainment, your self-awareness is also your road to higher realms of meaning in your life.

You say you "have to make a change some how." I agree and you have the power to do that. First, you need to realize that "fate" has not "taken" anything from you. Your feelings of powerless come from a lack of direction. So stop attacking all the mindless crap that's out there. Even the lowest forms of culture serves a function, if only to make people like you forge more thoughtful paths for themselves.

This isn't about Xbox games or Internet commercials. This is about you and the way you define your values and your goals.

So, tell me, what do you most enjoy doing? Write back and we'll talk some more.

In friendship,

Terra

Subscribe to Annie's
mailing list