Hey, I don't know if this group is exactly the place for this post, but it is kind of related to finding one's own way in the world, getting older, and the passage of time, so I think that it is somewhat related.

So, I somewhat randomly found out that someone passed away earlier this year, who was a parent of one of my friends when I was growing up -- when I was really young, even before high school.

This was kind of a surprise to me because I thought that she would have made it to an older age. My parents were usually a lot older than my classmates' parents when I was in school, because my folks got a late start on starting their family. So, when I think back on my friend's mom, I remember her as looking younger and healthier than my own parents at the time, yet both of my parent's ending up living to an older age than she did. It seems like she should have lived to an older age.

I read her obituary, and it mentioned my old friend from when I was growing up. He moved away before high school to live with his dad, quite a ways away, if my memory is correct. I haven't seen or heard from him since, and only heard really anything about him, from anyone, very rarely. The article didn't really provide much detail about what he went on to do, only that he is quite far away, in another part of my country.

This got me thinking about how few people from my past I ever see or hear from these days, or even know what they are doing these days. I can walk around my hometown these days, and I almost never randomly see anyone that I remember. I don't even know if I would recognize most of them anymore.

I come from a small-town, working-class-type community, and it's amazing how people can practically disappear into society with very little trace -- only certain key people really continue to know what they are doing. It's actually a lot like some MGTOWs describe themselves, but this affects a much broader group of people. If you're just working an everyday job for 30 years, it's amazing just how people can become pretty much invisible.

In addition to just kind of settling into a quiet everyday life, and not really knowing a lot of people anymore, I feel probably more disconnected from popular culture than any other time in my life. Some of it is just that not very much seems new to me anymore, I've seen so much TV, movies, and entertainment over the years. But it's also that I don't really connect with a lot of the entertainment being put out now -- I think the old stuff was much better, on average. Maybe they don't really make entertainment with middle-aged folks like myself in mind. Maybe it's part of getting old, in and of itself, too. I can remember, as a teenager and in college, how my life revolved around my favorite TV shows and other entertainment. My folks would have only like 15 favorite movies that they would watch over and over again. They'd see a movie just to see a movie, but it's not like they'd read about a movie being produced and look forward to it for a year before seeing it. Their real focus was their family and other real-life stuff. Maybe part of this was their generation, but maybe this is just something that happens as one gets older.

One thing about MGTOW, it is indeed a bit like exiting the freeway and taking a road different from the freeway -- just like that MGTOW symbol. If I were on a traditional life path, I'd probably have a wife and have started a family with her. I'd probably have a house, cars, more debt, more expenses, less free time, more stress. I wouldn't be sitting here in peace and quiet, thinking about the direction of my life and not knowing very much about people from my past anymore, as well as not connecting much with popular culture anymore. It seems a bit like unmapped territory, but I guess there have always been guys who have gone in MGTOW-like directions.

Anyway, I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this. It's more like a stream of thoughts following from reading an obituary. There is a part of me that really enjoys the peace and quiet in my life, and honestly I don't really feel like I have any other good directions to go with my life these days anyway. So, I can't really say that I should change direction with my life. However, I can't help but think that there should be more options to choose from in today's society, or at least that society should be more open about how life is for a lot of people these days.

I'm not sure how many other people here have had thoughts like these.