I'm a top graduate of a prestigious school and a well-respected military officer, outwardly living a life of conformity and conservatism. However, away from the military community and in my mind, I'm an entirely different person. I'm myself.
Task and Purpose of the Man Aside?
Task: Add another perspective to #tytb. Notably, add a masculine perspective to #tytb. Even more importantly, add MY perspective to #tytb.
Purpose: The thesis of the Braless, I think, goes something like this...
Be yourself. Be fashionable. And be comfortable in doing so. regardless of convention.
My addition to #tytb will be very much nested in this overall purpose. However, as the column name suggests, I am a dude. So my take may be different. My perspective is definitely complex and conflicted, but I think many will find it equal parts relatable- or at least engaging. I hope to inspire through sharing my energy, narratives, schemes and wayside thoughts. Feel free to send some back my way.
As I previously alluded, I'm a military officer. I joined because financial freedom sounded like a good trade for restricted personal freedoms at the time, because, when I signed up at the tender age of 20, I didn't know what I wanted out of life. I was apathetic and unsure of myself.
Now...
Now I know what I want and I know I can get it. The military taught me so many ways how not to invent the light bulb, I feel like, when I get out I'll be able to shine. In other words, realizing how irreconcilable my personal truth is with the military has made me more sure of myself. And that sort of discovery is incredibly motivating.
I want to be in the entertainment industry, but alas! I must finish my indentured servitude to the U-S-of-A. I'll share my schemes to make it to snapchat, rapstar, comedic, bloggisphere fame-dom in greater detail later. For now, let me get back to the topic: task and purpose.
Important clarification. The above purpose needs to be rephrased in the superlative, as follows:
Be your best self. Be your most fashionable self. And be as comfortable as possible in doing so...
Most often, people choose passively not to be themselves. As a result, people live their lives within the first standard deviation on the bell curve of life experiences. Most people only swing out of the first standard deviation on exception- after too many drinks or a significant emotional event.
That is because being yourself is a constant risk. But, one must remember, audaces fortuna iuvat, or "fortune favors the bold," or, as I like to say, "you have to risk it for the biscuit."
Being yourself is inherently risky because it makes you vulnerable to the energy of other people- good or bad. But, I think you can dampen the effect of negative energy and amplify the effect of the positive by being your best self possible.
While I subscribe to a lot of Eastern thought that largely emphasizes looking inward to achieve self-actualization, I do not think it's an entirely internal process. I think there is an external portion to the journey. I think there are external aids. I think there are books, movies, mentors, adventures, blogs, etc. that can be equally important to enlightenment. That's where, maybe, TYTB enters the picture for you. That's where, potentially, The Man Aside the Braless can enter the picture as well.
Best,
Man Aside
#tytb #tmatb [TEE-MAT-BEE]
P.S. - A note from Jigga.
"Granted, 9-5 is how you survive. I ain't tryna survive. I'm tryna live it to the limit and love it a lot."
