Surreal moments tend to be the most sobering moments.

When confronted with a situation that conflicts with reality, or rather, compels us to recalibrate the scope of our reality, the lenses through which we perceive the world come off, and surprisingly, we see more clearly.

It’s like wearing prescription contacts when you don’t need them but you don’t even know.

Usually when I watch TV my vision focuses on the television screen and blocks out peripheral objects and motion. Even the set itself becomes lost in what I see. I am of course aware of my surroundings, but consciously, I’m zoned in on the picture.

Two weeks ago as I was watching Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s Rick and Morty (get hooked) I broke out of that mode of perception.

For some reason what I was watching became unessential. The show was no longer the show but merely a moving picture on a screen. I looked around. I was in my room but nothing seemed familiar.

“What am I doing here?” I asked myself.

It’s an easy answer. I was sitting in my room, watching a show.

More literally, I was sitting in a room and staring at a rectangle on a wall.

I do this often. I sit and stare, sometimes for hours at a time—just sit and stare at a rectangle. If you think about it, it’s quite surreal, but this is reality.

To be sure, it’s only an aspect of my life. However, the way I approach watching TV and much else seems to be in that same mode: As I type this article I am sitting and staring at a computer monitor.

It’s a little depressing, modern existence.

Suck it up. This is life.

Some of us already have it figured out. This column is not necessarily for you. The rest of us though need a wake up call.

Students, why are we here at El Camino?

The answer is obvious: We are here to maximize pleasure, happiness, and contentment in life by receiving an education.

If you’re here floating along, not doing the work, then what are you doing here? What is the point?

Why are you paying $46 per unit just to fail or withdraw from a class? If you’re smart and can and want As, then why are you getting Bs or even Cs?

Sometimes there are extraneous circumstances, but they shouldn’t be typical. They are outliers and should not repeat like a broken record.

The difference between watching TV and writing an article is that writing is active. School takes time, energy, and focus. It is existence with a purpose. We call purposeful existence living.

Warriors, you have goals. What are you doing to reach them?

Simplify your life. Focus on your purpose and vision.

Don’t just sit and stare. Do.