/lit/ - Literature

>>5597668
how old are you? have you ever actually found yourself in a situation where your reality went against your ideals or had the potential to?

Most of /lit's existential crises are mostly just a consequence of being self-absorbed *and* lame (always a damaging combo). In this respect it's much less existential crisis than lack of experience.

As for you, OP, you perhaps never faced serious failure, or a situation that undermined your belief in what your are and what you want ? Did you ever saw one of your relatives die ? Were you ver confronted with catastrophic injury ?

All those things can trigger a legitimate existential crisis.

But perhaps you way of handling hardship is different. Most sane people go through phase of questioning about life and themselves, it needn't always escalate into a full-blown crisis.

>>5597700

I suppose the only thing that has ever really struck me is the knowledge that I will certainly die one day. There was a period where I would lay awake at night, almost physically paralyzed by the certainty of my ceasing to exist at some point. Buy little by little I made my peace with it. I looked at all the great men who came before, and reflected that they too faced death and were not rendered helpless by its inevitability.

The only thing I really fear at this point is running out of time, having to leave things undone. Life often comes out to less than the final tally of years passed on earth; most spend the latter portion of life languishing. I don't want that; and I worry it might come to that if I don't remain determined.

Ordinary people have problems

Millennial call these existential crises

Existential crises often happen when people realize they aren't special and aren't going to achieve what they think they will. The saturation of typical lazy, NEET etc. makes these realizations more severe and frequent. Furthermore it's important to note that so called 'existential crises' happen in all demographics, but a majority wouldn't know the 'technical' term and literature surrounding them, so you'll see them called and discussed as existential crises more often here.

>>5597700
>Most of /lit's existential crises are mostly just a consequence of being self-absorbed *and* lame (always a damaging combo).
fuck too close to home bro

bump

>>5597740
Seems like a rather healthy way to confront the problem.

But don't forget that time spent idle or languishing is not always time wasted.


>>5598034
Don't see it as slander, I'm myself very self-absorbed and very, very lame. But pretending that it makes us close to the like of Dostoievsky and Kierkegaard, who had actual lives and faced crises because of serious problems like epilepsy or death doesn't help our case.

If that helps you, consider that you're lame mostly because you have too high (or too low) standards, an aversion to failure (failure is painful but can't be avoided, an adult must know how to handle a certain amount of failure) and generally because you make yourself lame.

Starting to assess your life not in terms of how it compares to your fantaisies (we all have fantaisies) but of how it compares to your worst failure/to the worst possible failure and of what you learn through it would probably make things better.

>>5597904

There's a certain switch for you, you just haven't stumbled across it yet.

I thought the same thing. But lately I've been having a rough patch that, if not deemed an existential crisis could possibly be called depression, where I've discovered that there come times when even trying my best isn't good enough. hurr hurr platitudes yes I know, but it takes feeling it OP. FEELing it.

>>5597904
how are people supposed to have perspective on the severity of their internal problems?

>>5598508
Not the guy you're talking to.
I just had to say I can't think of better advice I've ever read on 4chan. You may have saved me, anon.

>>5597700
My grandpa's illness and death was what struck me hard. I saw one of the greatest and strongest man I ever knew lay in a bed because of cancer, he previously beat. A man that was in the resistance against arab oppression since he was 12 years old. A man that knew the hardships of struggle. A man that was condemned to death when he was 14 years old, but he got away because they didn't think a child like him was the guy they condemned to death. (his resistance name) A man that gave up his whole life for his freedom and community. A man that became sick all of a sudden. His lungs were just so corrupted that although the rest of his body was perfect he had a hard time.
I saw him two hours before he died. He was still asleep from the night before. The difference between life and death is so miniscule. His lungs just gave up on him. While he didn't want to die. He was counting the days until he could go to Germany for a treatment, and he didn't even think of death untill his body layed cold.

It made me think about life, death, purpose, happiness and struggles. I have to say that this event changed my whole personality and pattern of thinking. But I am happy to have known my grandpa, and I am happy that even in death, he still influences me so much.

>>5597668

Congrats ur greek baybee

keep up dat Eudimonia , get a great job and have consensual passionate sex with a few partners of your choice who feel equally committed to both their happiness and your own.

>>5597668
dude wait until you get to middle age and you realise that you never actually achieved anything much
it's gonna hit you like a ton of bricks

>>5597740
>Life often comes out to less than the final tally of years passed on earth.
Just wanted to say that this is a very well constructed sentence. That's all.

Just wanted to

you guys need to fucking turn the computer off, get on a bike and get some fresh air

that's literally it

I feel bad for you. It must be so terrible to live a plain middle class life where everything is handed to you.

>>5600763

Why are grandfathers always so based and fathers so shit?

>>5601236

>being proud of your slave existence

>>5597700
>just a consequence of being self-absorbed *and* lame
This is exactly what causes me angst. I think another huge problem is that /lit/ is mostly made of younger people and they want to have something interesting to say, but they don't and this causes angst. The answer is just try to ignore it and go and try some escapist activities, it'll pass.

>>5601865
Or you could make yourself into an interesting person

>>5601868
Most people here are too young to be interesting, that's the point I was trying to communicate and failed at.

Figured i'd ask here, but if this is the wrong board for this shit just send me on my way or delete this shit.

What's a good program for PC for reading epubs and such? I want something that retains clarity and page size regardless of resizing and has a decent UI for page flipping.

>>5601882
You could just use your browser.

>>5601887
hey what is this sorcery

>>5597668
people on /lit/ use the term "existential crisis" whenever they get a belly ache from eating too much candy

I don't understood exactly what an existential crisis is supposed to be. I used to think it meant having certain philosophical thoughts that everyone probably has at some point, and getting depressed because of their apparent truth (not that everyone does that part; I certainly haven't), but, listening to what people here say, it sounds like it means getting depressed, and then having those thoughts afterwards.

>>5601320
More like the other way

>>5602393
Actually when I was younger I would sometimes lying in bed feel some fear over the thought that someday I will die. Is that an existential crisis?

>>5602393
It's like a sudden realization with nihilistic and depressive undertones.

>>5602441
Is it an actual philosophical realization or just some ineffable feeling?

>>5602453
It is a complex cluster of thoughts that always surrounds your hazy mind. A framework of questions, beliefs and emotions.

>>5597904
>Millenials

There's that word again

>>5602865

There's that buttblasted hipster again

Rescue Bump