About Going Caesar

Post 440:

            I was reading about Julius Caesar the other day, and it made me feel several things. First, I need to get more done. This guy could wage ten wars at a time, destroy a 700 year-old republic, become one of the richest dudes in the world, and wear a toga doing it. Pretty sure he was Rome’s pagan Pontiff, and he had like ninety women on the side or something. These facts made me feel indolent—that’s why I say I need to get more done. It’s not that I want to pursue all that stuff, but dang—dude had a banging resume as far as warlords go. Oh yeah. He was a great writer, too. He wrote his own biography in the third person, and it’s considered some of the best Latin out there, whatever that’s worth.

            On the other hand, he had a lot of people killed so he could get rich. There was also the complete spitting on tradition thing. Not to mention, he got stabbed a ton by his homies. A product of his time, sure, but these facts made me think that unchecked ambition is not such a great thing wholesale.

            Ambition feels like a black hole sometimes, and I’m still trying to figure it out. It seems like every sad story begins with a guy and a dream. It seems like every good story begins the same way. Explorers are some of my biggest heroes. Mostly, the ones that survived. We don’t hear many yarns about the exploits of dudes that froze to death or got malaria. So… ambition…

            Paradox??

            Maybe not. Maybe it’s just working your ass off and not forgetting about your homies and traditions and malaria and family and other things that matter.   

            Do you want to leap tall buildings and be remembered? I’ll admit, I still do sometimes. Pretty sure it’s still okay to be the person with a dream—just don’t become a jerkoff along the way.

            And there’s ways to get more done. Maybe start there. I knew a guy in college that had every minute accounted for, every day. It was the sort of organization that I find depressing, but man was it efficient. And nobody died. Pretty sure no ancient traditions came crashing down either.

            Ambition. Rock out, but… let’s not get all Caesar about it. Cheers and see you after.