I think there’s a lot of cultural motivation to be some kind of great person - be it because of the great man theory of history or the economic glorification of the captains of industry. However, as communists, our theories of history and economics don’t have any love lost for this analysis of the world. We recognize that without labor, not a single gear would turn. So, in my mind, success as a society doesn’t rely on the prophetic vision of someone unbound by the constraints of societal pressures, but by iterative improvements and experiments put forward by groups of people who could stand to be liberated from under the economic heel of serving treats and proliferating the MIC. In this paradigm, the person who does push forward the big discovery/gadget is congratulated and venerated, but the cultural zeitgeist shouldn’t be centered around that moment of discovery, but instead around highlighting the group and their efforts. Think of watching a Summoning Salt video instead of just the WR speedrun. If I can characterize my desire as wanting to be part of a culture that celebrates the collaborative more than wanting to be exalted as the person who accomplishes something, I can say that I don’t “lack motivation” because I don’t yearn to be celebrated.

I also struggle to see myself in chosen ones - I don’t write the MCs of my novels as inherently special, but rather people who have to rise to the occasion. I hear that media that depicts hordes of zombies (post-apocalyptic has never resonated with me) springs from the same core philosophy. I would much rather hear about someone who is weird because they had to panic and push through a crowd of normal people than someone who is normal who had to run their truck through a horde of zombies. When I think of what I want for myself, the conversation is never to cultivate what makes me special to live up to my potential, it’s always about doing something cool because the opportunity exists for those who would take it.

For example, with my black belt coming up in BJJ (in likely <year), I find a lot of joy in reflecting about how I took detours to learn about striking, wrestling, and judo while I’ve never had a genuine interest in my tournament results which have, as a result, been lackluster. For me, I grew up hearing people say that nobody’s cut from a different cloth and how “you’re a fucking sick (oops, can’t show that word on a Christian forum) if you want to be.” I went into BJJ because I wanted to believe that anyone could walk in off the street and, with the proper attitude, opportunity, will, and work become a black belt. I don’t know that it ever crossed my mind that among the public, I was specially engineered to get that belt because of some characteristic about myself. On the contrary, my enormous gag reflex, gentle demeanor, and sensitive skin would imply that I am particularly imperfect for BJJ. Sometimes it’s hard to go into a group of practicing MMA athletes as a weekly manga reader with no competitive ambition and believe “yep, I can hang with you shirtless people with tattoos and muscles!” even if I was invited by the coach. I think in my darkest moments I worried that inherent characteristics about myself made me too bad of a person to be able to accomplish the goal or that my accomplishments would be given out of pity. Even then, when it came to digging myself out of that hole, the act of showing up and being part of that community and touching grass mat helped bring me out of that funk when people showed me love instead of hating me for being me.

So, I guess sometimes I feel like I’m missing some fire or edge because I’m not striving to stand out. I do have accomplishments that stand out - I don’t like to list them in public because it feels boastful. But if we just look at BJJ - while it’s hard to get accurate data, a safe assumption is that <1% of people who walk in the door to do BJJ make it to brown belt. If the exclusivity were the goal, I feel like I should feel some other emotion about it. That maybe I should lean into it and make it into some complex about what a precise and superior fighter I am. I earnestly, when I’m being honest and sincere, don’t toil in the hopes of being more than someone else. Deep down in there I’m hoping that an attractive person I’m attracted to goes “oh you really like that thing that I like too! Let’s talk about it for hours” and magically I like talking to them for hours. Likewise, being really helpful and working on my own terms has 1,000,000x more resonance to me than being really rich (marble countertops, consuming luxury slop, having exclusive seating/priority, etc.). But with a resume of cool shit that I’ve done it’s like shouldn’t I want to pursue something until it’s amazing? Shouldn’t I be one track minded towards a goal? I seem to be floating listlessly and a goal might shake that up. Am I just coping?

Do you feel the same way? Without great man theory, imperial core chauvinism, and unenlightened non-liberating education do you still strive to be special and stand out? Do you want to be outstanding - the person who finally discovers and invents the thing? Do you have any guidance for me?