Personal Story With A Soundtrack

There's a guy- I don't know if you've heard about this guy, he's been on the news a lot lately. There's a guy- he's America, I don't think we should hold that against him, but apparently, this guy is a Contrarian.

A Contra what?

He´s a Con-tra-ri-an mate, a real-life one.

What have you been sniffing a Contrathingy is not even a real word.

It is mate, it is check it with Chat if you don´t believe me.

Yeah yeah, I will and you go see a doctor:

Go see the doctor

In case you did not go see that doctor,

Let me spell it out for you:

A contrarian is a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion. Contrarians tend to go against prevailing trends or opinions.
The contrarian point of view is often a mix of skepticism, independent thinking, and a desire to challenge the status quo.

From a more philosophical stance; It´s about believing that the consensus is often wrong and questioning mainstream beliefs.

It does not, let me say that loud and clear, it does NOT support conspiracy theories. It will perceive those as skeptically as any mainstream belief.

A real contrarian prefers to believe nothing and doubt everything, whereas the mainstream believes everything and doubts nothing.

You can imagine why I do not go to most parties, and how in school my ways caused me to be unpopular with the masses. But it´s worse than a virus, it´s baked into my DNA to question everything, believe nothing, and I know nothing.

"For I was conscious that I knew practically nothing..." (Plato, Apology 22).

"Contrarians are Usually Wrong"

Jeff thought he was right but AU CONTRAIRE my dear reader as he shoots himself in the foot saying in the same minute that Amazones biggest decisions were counterintuitive.

AU CONTRAIRE

The mistake Jeff makes is assuming, he assumes that because you are a contrarian you have an opinion that goes against the accepted status quo and that the status quo is often correct. But going against one does not require a firm belief in the opposite.

An opposing view does not entail a blueprint for the other side of things.

It does require skepticism, independent thinking, or a desire to challenge that status quo.
But it´s not supporting any design for a new world order.

“Your FACTS ain’t FACTS without censoring US”

The contrarian way PISS PPL OFF WITH FACTS

Okay back to the topic, Me.

And why I might consider myself a contrarian.
The answer is right there, did you miss it?

You might have.....
Did you see what I just said, I might.
I clearly even doubt my own Status Quo

I believe when I have the facts, but facts nowadays are as easily faked as an ID or a $4.5 note.

That is exactly why I never have No Doubt.

That is why I do Speak. I can not deal with someone´s truth when I Am in Doubt.

Pick Your Battles

Been like that forever but I learned to control myself.
One of the most important lessons to learn as a contrarian is to pick your battles.

I ain´t spending no more time trying to convince talking monkeys that they might be wrong. Even though the only truth out there is that there is No Doubt In Fact.

And even then I might be wrong, because with time facts change.

That is why I do not feel the need to speak anymore, I prefer writing because I have no one to convince, Everyone was given semi-free will at birth and you can use or abuse that to your liking.

Trust me I Tried

When I was younger so much younger than today,
I offered this world my help in each and every way.

And that is no joke, I thought it made sense to make them see, but in the end, I turned one blind eye as the masses prefer to not have any (in)sight at all.
It hurts running into brick walls wherever you go, feeling just a little misunderstood with every breath you take and every word you speak.

(Okay bonus points for who gets all the songs in that paragraph)

And then this older guy told me to pick my battles, and he was right. Sort of, I stopped the war, I picked no mo battles. Because being a contrarian I tend to even take well-meant advice with a lot of salt and a skeptical sauce.

Why would I pick my battles if I can avoid battles in general?

Why was I battling, it did nothing for me to be right, and even when defeat is admitted and I am right it did not make me any happier.

Hence I took it up on myself to avoid fighting any contrarian battle going forward.

Time is too precious, and thanks to the internet if people are open and want to listen they will hear me.

So back to the guy I mentioned at the start of this story, Of course, I was talking about a contrarian guy and it was not Peter Thiel, although he is a very interesting fellow I was of course talking to a guy closer to home.

A musical contrarian, a guy I admired before I even knew that he was what he is, although I should have known.

How the Freckles can Tool be anything else but contrarian?

Of course, I am ~~talking~~ writing about Maynard James Keenan.

Contrarians learn to keep it to themselves and show it through outings like music, spoken word, or writing:
Keenan's authorized biography, A Perfect Union of Contrary Things

And I did not know because I did not listen to A Perfect Circle a lot lately because I think this song says it all. (Check that bottle with Absolute Happiness)

This is what being a contrarian is truly about, not getting swallowed up in the rat race designed to keep you dumb, poor, and running after a piece of cheese you never reach, a little twinkie called happiness you never catch up with.

Bikini Bottom Line

Happiness for me is the bikini bottom line on a big ass, because contrarian as I am I prefer big above skinny.

Screenshot 2024-01-11 105836.png

But the true Bottom Line is:
It´s all about happiness

All about the Twinkie, and all about the bass.
All about not getting stuck in the rat race but going your own way.

You Can Go Your Own Way

It´s hard and they try to force you into that rat race, but you can go your own way.

We were given time, but few know how much they have left to waste. Time is a precious asset you never get back, and wasting it chasing the dangling carrot called happiness is bloody ignorant.

Happiness does come in small packages, and you need to be enlightened and ready to receive it.

My Own Way started by not following my friends to the same high school but choosing a different one for no apparent reason but that it felt more me.

I did not pursue my education, I quit my studies and chased my dream of being a DJ & a Bartender I always adored Tom Cruise in Cocktail.

And Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume.

By following those Cocktails and Dreams I had the time of my life. And I ended up where I am now because I chased my dream of leaving Las Vegas or in my case Tilburg, The Netherlands.

I went on my way with 5K to the end of the world and ended up in Andalusia. I ended up where most pensionados dream of, in a little white village in the South of Spain with time to see my son grow up.

I waited til the rat race grabbed him and made him go to school. Some things are hard to escape but you need to learn to pick your battles.

He went to school and I chose to get a job for a while and be a rat. But it was a conscious choice because living the dream and going my own way requires cash.

I did exactly what I read somewhere at some point growing up.

This is why I think I am not a contrarian because the word is in fashion, but I might be the real deal.

Growing up I read a very simple question:

Why do we work all our lives to end up with money when we are too old to spend it on the fun things we missed out on when we were young because we had no time and money and needed to work?

Why don´t we get a million dollars at the start, and work off that debt once we hit 35?

#### Why is it? I went wtf, why is it that I go to school, go study, go work a boring job, to hopefully have some money when I am too old to impress a girl without wrinkles?

Noway Jose, using Jose in general as he is an okay neighbor so nothing personal. But why, tell me why?

This was not my way, I would show the world life can be lived differently. I followed the beat of my own drum and found many twinkies along the way.

Going against the current is never easy, but it is rewarding.
I found absolute happiness in being on stage, playing music for the crowd.
I was the slightly handsome bartender, talking slick and having an answer for everything.
I lived in the countryside seeing my boy grow up every day in almost absolute freedom.

And then at the party ended I agreed to pay the bill. Been paying that bill for over twelve years now, and I plan to pay for a few more years.

I will pay just long enough to go my own way again, this time with a little more than 5K call it inflation, and the taste for a bit of luxury that is developed over the years.

Going against the current once again, not planning to pay the bills till I am old and grey.

Nor am I planning to stay in the corporate rat race, I will chase some more dreams.
Because I have some left, or maybe I found some new ones.
The one I have left is to live in America Latina for a while, and the one I found over the last couple of years is all about my little piece of heaven.

No not that piece, I meant my own little piece of the world.

A bit of land where I can do what I want. And at the same time, it should allow me to sustain the simple lifestyle by having others enter heaven before they die, just to get a taste of it.

Guess I am a born contrarian and that means I have no choice, this is my road and here I go again on my own.

Thank goodness you made it till the end Pees, Love and I am out of here!

You just read the latest chapter in my Personal Story With A Soundtrack series.

Some earlier Personal Stories:

ALL ART by MyI & AI unless watermarked or sourced