Answering The Question: The Shit I Care About

A partial look at (some of) the shit I care too much about, or wish I didn't care about at all.

Have fun with this week’s prompt? Found it to be quite cathartic. Given my schedule this week I spent most of my time writing this out while on a plane, and I only wish I could have known what my seatmate was thinking if they were glancing over to see what I was putting on the page.

Unlucky for them, but lucky for you, I’m about to share some of the shit I wish I cared less about below.

What do you wish you didn’t give a shit about?

Answering the Question: What is This Shit?

A brief look at some of the shit I wish I didn’t care about, and some explainers:

1. The Marvel Cinematic Universe

   1. I’m a fan and will see what they put out there, but it’s just way too much content. Quality aside, it has become homework more than it has become entertainment.

2. Money

3. Palace intrigue stories in American politics

   1. I do my best to skip these, but every now and then I get sucked into a “what Republicans/Democrats/etc. are saying behind closed doors” news cycle.

4. My body

   1. In my 30s, I’m well beyond a place of caring how others perceive my body. However, I still deeply battle with my own perceptions of it, and I wish I didn’t.

5. My waist size (the major manifestation of the above)

6. How the skin under my eyes looks

   1. The amount of money I’ve spent on products for this. Probably the only area in beauty I worry about.

7. Dessert

8. Social media

   1. Broadly (it’s existence) and microscopically (notifications)

9. How other people drive

   1. It infuriates me to see reckless drivers who seem to forget they’re a) behind the wheel of a deadly weapon and b) living in a society. I’ll never take a baseball bat to a windshield, but I’m known to vent my frustration to my passengers while I’m behind the wheel.

10. Owning a home

11. Stuff

    1. While not a maximalist, I’m definitely an aspirational minimalist who doesn’t practice what he tries to preach.

12. Live news

    1. I occasionally subscribe to Hulu with Live TV or YouTube+ for live network and cable news. Probably a waste.

13. Watches

    1. While I rarely buy, it’s an expensive hobby I would probably execute on more frequently if I had the disposable income, and because I don’t buy it creates a material longing that doesn’t serve me. Wish I was better at appreciating but not desiring.

14. Donald J. Trump, Ron DeSantis, and the Republican Party

15. Being socially available and responsive

    1. Turns it into homework or an obligation rather than a desire.

16. Home goods

17. The Tragedy of the Commons

    1. Watching people disrespect our shared spaces is hard for me to stomach. Whether it’s a physical space, a soundscape, or a shared resource, I lose my cool when I see people refusing to act as a responsible steward. Just this week, I accosted fellow passengers at the airport when they crowded the boarding area, making it difficult for those who required mobility assistance, the visually impaired, parents with strollers, and other passengers to navigate the terminal. Do I regret it? No. But I also know living with that kind of anger and frustration is probably not healthy.

18. Capturing content at events (just be present!)

19. Giving my time to those who do not deserve it because “it’s easier” that severing ties (conflict avoidance)

20. Being productive

21. Pointing out flaws in art

22. My thunder thighs

23. Scarcity

    1. Some of the things I hang on to because “you never know when you might need them”: wire cutters from my jaw surgery, that one shirt in that one shade of blue that I might wear with that one sweater, surplus cold weather clothes in case I move out of LA, canned goods I have never used in my life nor broached using,

24. How uncomfortable turtlenecks are

    1. They’re the pants of the neck, though it does close me off to an entire area of fashion/style.

25. Delta Air Lines status

26. The rest of the items on this list, and the fact that I’m not ready to share them yet…

    And some quick reflections on the process:

• I found the first ~25 items I put down were quick to reveal themselves. After that, I started to search. It makes me wonder if I was grasping at straws, or refusing to hold myself accountable. Saying that I just don’t care about a lot of shit would be a cop out.

• The big themes that emerged? Politics/news, technology, body and body image, materialism, and content consumption/fandom.

• Struggled with finding the line between “shit” I care about and purposes/causes/values/etc. I care about that are important, but I am probably too evangelical about.

How about you? Would love to see your lists! Comment with some items below, or send me an email or a DM with yours. Would be great to read your list this week or see a photo!

Lastly, a look at me after completing this exercise.

Something For The Weekend

Just going to share a few of my favorite reads from the week with y’all:

• Los Angeles Is a Doughnut Town (NYT): I have several new spots to grab an apple fritter from now.

• America Has Decided That Homeless People Aren't People (VICE): The murder of Jordan Neely is yet another one of those moments in American history that is shocking but not surprising. The same goes for those passengers who sat by and did nothing while this crime occurred. While many words have been written about the crime itself, I think the next most important discussion is the way we have dehumanized the unhoused, a shift in our public consciousness that made this murder possible.

• How I Became Black In America (The Atlantic): Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has never written something that isn’t worth reading. Like, I’d even read a check she wrote.

-

See you Sunday!