From Quora.com, by Adam Mordecai, Dad, Upworthy Editor-at-Large, Writer, Movie & TV
It's awesome and it's awful.
Growing up, I would come up with things no one else had the wherewithal to think about. I would ace creative projects. I would create things that people loved and were entertained by. I could bring a level of showmanship to dates that other dudes would envy. I could make people laugh. I could invent massively complex fun hotness on projects no one else considered to make exciting. I could help other people harness their creative energy. I could make other people's work better. I could have no edit button and say things with confidence that get me places other people would be afraid to say. My lack of shame and my creative confidence allows me to think way outside the box. That has allowed me to accomplish great and silly things a normal life would not have afforded me. That's the awesome part.
For every great disappointment, I have a greater triumph. For every friend I've let down, I've gotten their back in a more creative and helpful way down the road. For every distraction, I've gotten a-
Hold on, playing just one more level of Angry Birds, I'll get back to you.
It's awesome and it's awful.
Growing up, I would get remarks like, "oh, you are just lazy," or "are you sure you aren't just bored?" I would constantly feel inadequate, as though my brain were broken, that I was somehow inferior to everyone else. I would miss assignments, I would forget things I was told 10 minutes earlier, I would fall asleep in class without provocation, I would set things down for 5 seconds and have no idea where I put them. I'd lose time, sitting down to do something for an hour and realize 4 hours had passed. I would fall asleep at professional sporting events. I've heard, "It's all in your head" and "you just need to get more organized" and "it's a made up thing for lazy people". I've let people down, over promised and under delivered, lost track of things that were important to my long term health, and disappointed friends and family over and over again. It's really fun to reach a point in your life where your compatriots expect you not to do the things you promise to do. Especially when they know you really mean to do it, and just forget. How my wife has tolerated me this many years is mind boggling. That's the awful part.
Growing up, I would come up with things no one else had the wherewithal to think about. I would ace creative projects. I would create things that people loved and were entertained by. I could bring a level of showmanship to dates that other dudes would envy. I could make people laugh. I could invent massively complex fun hotness on projects no one else considered to make exciting. I could help other people harness their creative energy. I could make other people's work better. I could have no edit button and say things with confidence that get me places other people would be afraid to say. My lack of shame and my creative confidence allows me to think way outside the box. That has allowed me to accomplish great and silly things a normal life would not have afforded me. That's the awesome part.
For every great disappointment, I have a greater triumph. For every friend I've let down, I've gotten their back in a more creative and helpful way down the road. For every distraction, I've gotten a-
Hold on, playing just one more level of Angry Birds, I'll get back to you.
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