What Does It Mean to be Successful?

Stark Raving
4 min readNov 1, 2023

We’re all searching for something without knowing what it means.

Photo by Florian Schmetz on Unsplash

My dream life involves chickens and body painting. Living in a hippy community with a bunch of artistic, chaotic individuals. Being surrounded by people, finding ways to live together. I want to be involved in activist work, skilled at Muay Thai and aerial silks, and writing books and blogs that people read and that have an impact. I have so many dreams and desires, and not just in my professional life.

The thing is since what I want doesn’t really correspond to society’s definition of success, I sometimes feel like I am unambitious. I struggle to find external validation because praise usually comes when you are skipping your way along to a nice house + nice car + nice husband + nice kids + nice salary + nice gadgets.

So it is tricky to stand firm and follow my own definition of success.

Well-Trodden Routes to the ‘Top‘

It’s tempting to follow well-trodden paths because if you go off-road, you never know how far along you are. You have no points of reference. So sometimes, inevitably, you feel a bit lost.

Many people pursue goals that aren’t really their own, because at least then they know where they are going. Sometimes it is easier not to ask if that destination is…

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Stark Raving
Stark Raving

Written by Stark Raving

Intersectional feminism and environmental issues. Let’s make the world a kinder, more sustainable place. Support my work! https://starkraving.medium.com/members

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