Life Is Like Countless First Drafts

Lost In The Algorithms-Odyssey # 51

George Kalantzis
2 min readApr 6, 2024

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a life must want a better script. ( Thanks to Jane Austin’s Pride And Prejudice for her beautiful work — go read it if you haven’t ). Let’s burn the conventional narrative of what a man ‘should’ be by the time he hits the big 4–0. Screw the societal blueprint that tags you as a failure if you don’t have the house, the car, the wife, or the corner office job.

I’m a man. No white picket fences here or no suit and tie — but don’t think I’m running on empty. I’ve got values, experiences, and a mind that doesn’t just wander; it fucking runs ultra-marathons. Label me ‘lost’? Fine. I’m off the beaten path because I refuse to be boxed in by someone else’s life checklist. When most people my age talk, they’re ticking off items at a grocery store, not living a life.

So, I’d rather be the lost man with a pen in hand. You can waste your days fitting into a pre-cut mold, or you can break free and write something worth telling. In my nearly four decades of living in this earthsuit, I’ve lived — really lived. Fifty countries, wars, you fucking name it. And I’m done with people saying I need to do this or that as the clock ticks.

Their well-meaning advice can go to hell. Life isn’t about checking boxes unless they’re the ones you draw yourself.

Show me the raw, the real, the different. We have the right, even the responsibility, to access the wonders of the world and make life interesting and enjoyable…so, fuck the norms.

Go out there and live a story that’s too damn good not to share.

GK

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George Kalantzis

George is a professional storyteller, a dad to a sassy and adventurous eight year-old girl, and the author Of Nowhere To Go