Dave Martin

How many things do people do just to share online, impress people they know/sort of know/don’t know/hate, or to get likes, views, retweets etc.?

A whole bunch of Jacksonville Jaguars fans bought and sent trash cans to the Houston Texans’ Jadaveon Clowney after he called their quarterback Blake Bortles exactly that – trash.

But if they couldn’t post it on twitter or Facebook, Instagram or whatever, would these people still do it? If it were just a transaction between them and Clowney, would they really do it? 40 years ago, would even one of these people organise for a garbage receptacle to be sent to a sportsperson they’ve never spoken to (and probably never will), if they couldn’t tell their online friends and online friends of friends and online friends of people they hate about it? Or is it just so they could share it online, as a joke, maybe to show that they’re funny, or that their lives are interesting, or spontaneous or random etc?

Mr Bean – Even if there were social networks around, he couldn’t give a fuck about sharing what he’s doing with someone who’s not physically there. 

Mr Bean is the proof. Mr Bean shows us how to understand what we like, what we don’t and the opinions of others don’t matter shit. As long as you are self-aware, aware of the environment you live in and the people around you, and you do the right thing by all those.

He’s happy in his own skin. He values himself. He has a high self-worth and self-esteem and an opinion of himself that isn’t rocked by other people’s opinions of him (he’s also the ultimate Stoic). Completely. He could give a fuck about proving to others he’s funny, interesting, cool or random. He’s perfectly content to be with people or with himself (and I’m pretty sure he’s never uncomfortable). In any situation.

And if there is something with him, they have no influence on the validity of what you do, they just add a different dynamic to whatever you’re doing.

And if he takes photos, it’s only to remind himself of what a great day he had.

Mr Bean is The Proof – You don’t need anyone else to have a good time but you.

Mr Bean is the model. The archetype that shows that you don’t need anyone else to be happy, content or to have a bloody great time. Travelling alone, dining out alone, at home alone or out shopping on your own, it’s always possible to still have a great time. Mr Bean proves it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ma-iPC4Osk

Ask yourself…

‘If noone ever will know about this, and I don’t share it with someone, would I do this?’ If this were 1987 and I couldn’t post this online or tell my friends in chat (and had to write a long ass letter to describe it, taking weeks before they actually got it and found out about it), would I do this?

This might be the gauge for if your living your life based on what you want, or if you’re living based on what others think is cool, interesting, funny or  their opinion on how you should live.

Oh, and also, Mr Bean doesn’t give a fuck who you are or what you look like. We are all people, the same exact species, and you are just the same as the next person. So just chill, and back the fuck up.