One of my favorite things about Tolkien is how he describes a typical Hobbit. They are amiable, brave, stout, hardworking, ritualistic, yet complacent, cranky, boring, non-imaginative little creatures, who never do anything inappropriate like take adventures. Their chief goals in life are to eat, reproduce, and pass on heirlooms to their children. Anything outside of Shire life is considered a fairytale, preposterous, and potentially dangerous. What is even more amusing to me is that Tolkien was talking about his fellow British countrymen.  

Human beings are funny, fickle little creatures. They love making plans. Plan-making happens subconsciously (i.e. this is the way things are, and this is how it’s going to be, that’s the plan). It’s almost a production of group consciousness. And they stick to these plans (with imaginary boundaries) at all costs, no matter if the plan is actually a good plan, or a bad one. If you are one of the “unlucky” ones with enough imagination and determination to rebel against “the plan,” then you are labeled as dramatic, a usurper, a radical, a weirdo, or just plain stupid. And certainly not the practical sort. It’s a funny world we live in. Not funny ha ha, but you know “funny.” Dear World, I wish you could understand. I wish you could see things from my perspective. But you can’t. It’s not part of the plan. 

P.S. Yes, I just said that I see most people as Tolkien’s Hobbits.