TikTok bobblehead prophets love this line, “One day you’ll be dead, so why waste your life paying bills and being ordinary when you could be extraordinary?”
Motivational, marketable, and rotten.
Almost everyone who has ever lived is ordinary. That’s not failure. That’s life. The myth of “extraordinary” shames the mundane while selling a dream no one can ever cash in. Even those who chase it, celebrities, influencers, crash against the same human limits as the rest of us, burnout, debt, or disillusionment.
Some escape the cubicle, chasing the prophets’ call to be extraordinary. But for every viral success, countless others face the cost, drained savings, broken dreams, or lives upended by the pursuit. The prophets don’t mention them.
Or, the blame quickly shifts to capitalism, the easy-out, which feels like overreach, and it is, because it fits in with the TikTok waterfall of claims. The lie doubles, in every system, socialist, capitalist, feudal, someone still digs the ditches, grows the food, fixes the roads, heals the sick. If everyone were extraordinary, no one would be.
Observe road workers next time you drive past, they pour asphalt in the sun so the “extraordinary” can glide past in their cars and buses. No one applauds them, yet without their sweat, your glamorous car will rattle and hum on horrible roads. Who’s really carrying whom?
And here’s what’s never said, there’s meaning in the ordinary, in paying the bills, in helping a neighbor. That’s not mediocrity, that’s the backbone of existence.
But let’s not stop at critique. The longing for more, to stretch beyond our smallness, is real.
Maybe “extraordinary” doesn’t start with yachts or running up Everest. Maybe it starts with something embarrassingly simple, looking around, noticing who has less, and choosing to build with them. Because the better life isn’t above anyone else, it’s alongside them.
And before we close out on the Bobblehead Prohets. Ask, “Are they building, or performing?”
if I could ask one question to the prophets, why are you here making a video about how we’re not extraordinary, instead of living your extraordinary life, or is this all just an advert for your channel?
Extraordinary isn’t a lifestyle, it’s a moment.
Most moments don’t trend, they happen quietly, when no one’s filming, generating hype, or selling a course about it.
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Most likely this has been posted but … I say, PREACH! Say it louder for the kids in the back of class. You are correct, and on so many levels.
Thanks Mr. Carlos.
Often, I shoot myself in the foot, by venturing onto TikTok, I’ll be honest, TikTok does mess with me too. It’s often a crudheap, filled with people selling lies for engagement, and if you’re not careful, it corrodes your sense of worth. But reframing it changes something. If my stuff reaches even one kid sitting at the back of the class, it’s worth every ounce of effort.
Matt
Thanks for this.
Great post. 🎯 😎👏
I really like your writing style ! You’re passionate and just honest !!! The line “Because the better life isn’t above anyone else, it’s alongside them,” that’s so beautiful !!!!
I grew up long before my mistakes could be preserved forever on social media stages. It feels as if everything is performative, but that’s only because it’s so loud. I became part of a slow, deep, and eternally expansive community of thinkers about 11 years ago, and all I want now is…well, now. This moment. It is an extraordinary moment because I get to talk to you across space and time (since you published this “not now.” Our minds align, and that feels amazing every time it happens. I think Albert Einstein was right: “Either everything is a miracle, or nothing is.” Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Perhaps the performers haven’t yet experienced where the true extraordinary lives — inside every moment, every real connection (with others, with nature, and even with “whispers from the past” which is why I’m so obsessed with quotes). Every emotion I have ever felt has been felt by someone, somewhere, at some time, and many of those people write about these feelings. *That* is extraordinary. ^^
Wow, Niki.
Thanks.
I love these moments when minds align.
Yep, this is so amazing: “It is an extraordinary moment because I get to talk to you across space and time.”
And I like the Einstein quote. I’m going to have to ponder on that one!
While reading your comment, I was listening to VNV Nation’s “Radio.”
“Broadcasting live around the world
On the air in every land, on every frequency
Across the surface of the earth
To the furthest reach
This is our live transmission”
Thanks for also initiating a real connection on your side of the world!
Matt here, message recieved… responding a little late, but still in good time!
My pleasure! That sounds like a powerful radio station. I just found the coolest link on “My Awesome Blog’s” site: Radio Garden. You can listen to stations all over the world. I appreciate your response, too, Matt. Thank you.