[OC] And then...

[u/skroode]

More, if you're into that sort of thing, at skroode.com.

[u/appoplecticskeptic]

Idk, he seemed like he did ok. Not great but fairly average.

[u/WideAwakeItsMornin → u/appoplecticskeptic]

He molded to society's expectations, but there was no real fulfillment for him doing so. Dude was meant to be in the ocean (i.e. a purpose more befitting him), but he likely was too busy following the script to see it as an option.

Comic at least prolly serves as a reminder to actually explore and be curious about life because the one you're living might not be the one for you, and you should find the one for you before you're gone.

That's my read on it anyway.

[u/Winjin → u/WideAwakeItsMornin]

I feel like a big tragedy is that we really don't have that sort of deep-dive examination available of all your strength and weaknesses

There was this one fella - William Walker. He did an insane feat: he shored up like half of Winchester Cathedral

He did it for years, in the old school diving gear, basically in pitch black darkness because the water was so full of sediment the lamps did absolutely nothing

"Between 1906 and 1911, working in water up to a depth of six metres (20 feet), he shored up Winchester Cathedral, using more than 25,800 bags of concrete, 114,900 concrete blocks, and 900,000 bricks.

Before his work, the cathedral had been in imminent danger of collapse as it sank slowly into the ground, which consisted of peat. To enable bricklayers to build supporting walls, the groundwater level had to be lowered. Without intervention, the removal of the groundwater would have caused the collapse of the building. So, to give temporary support to the foundation walls, some 235 pits were dug along the southern and eastern sides of the building, each about six metres deep. Walker went down and shored up the walls by putting concrete underneath them. He worked six hours a day—in complete darkness, because the sediment suspended in the water was impenetrable to light."

(Wiki)

The thing is, this man seems like he was a nature-born diver. He found his Main Calling and fulfilled it to the brim. And he started at 30 when he was already a Senior Diver at a prestigious diving company... And by then he was already such an outstanding diver that he was teaching Royal Marines to dive - including future King George V.

Sometimes people find their One True Calling. Maybe some don't have it, but it's also possible that your One True Calling is "darkwater cathedral shoring"

[u/arittenberry → u/Winjin]

There was a society in an episode of start trek tng that could identify talents, abilities, and likes at a very young age and guide you in your dream profession. As an aimless drifter, I always deeply wished that was real.

[u/contecorsair → u/arittenberry]

I met a 20 year old who was a home owner and had regular world wide vacations from Amsterdam. I asked how she did it. She said "In 4th grade and then 7th grade we took a test that matched our skills with a profession and you could do that or you could go to college and be whatever you want. I wasn't good in school so I just did the trade program my school offered and by 18 I had this job. It's highly specialized, I solder a specific type of roof joint. When someone is about to finish a roof, they call me, I do it, and that's it. I can't build a roof but I do one thing they showed me how to do and I do it well." And I don't know how much what she said was actually true, but since then I always wished I was born in Amsterdam, because it seemed ideal. You didn't HAVE to do what you were assigned, you could still go out and be what you wanted if you had a dream. But if you didn't, there was a path to a sustainable life: a home, stable employment... so if you chose to "do nothing" and just went along with the default, you wouldn't be jobless and on the streets. In America (I say this as someone who was chronically homeless) it feels like the default, if you're ever unsure about what you need to do next or what you want to do next, is to be homeless working a minimum wage job. I remember taking a similar test in 7th grade. It said I should be a dentist. I think I would have made a great dentist... but I had no path to get there.

[u/Winjin → u/contecorsair]

I mean it's also always possible that your special talent is not well paying... But then again it's something you're still extraordinarily good at

[u/contecorsair → u/Winjin]

That was really wholesome, actually ❤️