Agency
Today, everyone is discussing agency. My generation, specifically those born between 1997 and 2000, frequently uses the terms Main Character and NPC. Reflecting on conversations in online and offline spaces, I have started to notice a disturbing lack of agency in people. There is a constant wait for permission and instructions. It took me a long time to understand that personal agency is actually unique to the individual. This is not because others lack the capacity for it, but because few choose to exercise it.
This drive runs deep within a person. A childhood inspiration of mine was to become an inventor, a scientist, or an engineer. I wanted to be a creator who builds things. I did not know exactly what I wanted to do, so I framed it as one of those titles in different stages of life. Yet, there is one quote that has always stuck with me: The best way to predict the future is to build it.
However, in the frantic pace of the rat race, I lost that drive. The dream to pursue something that deeply resonates with my being faded. The reason was simple. As we age, responsibility creeps in. You are no longer caring for yourself but for the people around you, and everyone expects something from you. As we hit 30, the mundane routine becomes a necessity because it puts food on the table. No matter what we want to do, the duty is always there.
In a world where work carries meaning and working means doing a job, the agency of a person is often buried. Jobs come with responsibilities and roles defined to provide a solution to a machine that only cares about the output, not the person. The bitter truth is that these jobs rob the agency out of a person. When your only alternative is to succumb to the greater force or lose your source of stability, you are bound to surrender.
This is why 2025 has been a distinctive year. After years of being complacent and going with the flow, I finally grew up and realized how things actually work. The reflection hit me at a peculiar moment. The façade crumbles once you know you are just a cog in the machine. Some people evolve into the operators while others simply continue as part of the machinery.
Admittedly, realizing I had the internal will to change my life felt a bit late. We are all exposed to difficult circumstances, and some situations will take away our ability to act, making life feel suffocating. Changing this requires a dramatic shake in lifestyle, in the way you live and perceive things. Each word is scrutinized, tested, and questioned. It creates immense pressure and drains the courage to do things. Therefore, agency becomes vital. These are all choices. Even when the machine is loud, there is still a choice to take actions that suit the self. The script is there, but you do not have to read it.