Break Stupid Rules
This one may be a controversial one, but I'm writing it anyway.
You've heard the saying "rules are meant to be broken", for the most part I agree. Some "rules" are basically just common sense, or what should be common sense: don't dive on the shallow end of the pool, don't light a match near a gas tank, clip your nails before entry, stuff like that.
However some rules are just... stupid. Pointless even. Existing only for the sake of seemingly keeping people in line. This is done either socially or legally. Many self-imposed rules exist simply because they have "always been done that way". Many legal rules aren't even enforceable.
Why should I break rules?
Little acts of defiance in the face of the authority that insists upon its own legitimacy go a long way for when it comes time to do something for the greater good. The civil rights movement was built upon breaking laws, black people sitting in a whites-only restaurant was illegal. Breaking the small stuff makes it easier for when it comes time to break the big stuff.
You also start to exercise why certain rules became rules, like the aforementioned don't dive head-first into the shallow end of the pool. The rule is in-place for your safety, but the rule isn't enforceable. It just becomes a guideline or boundary.
Another byproduct of breaking small arbitrary rules is it becomes easier to not fall victim into herd mentality. You've basically trained that "muscle" in your brain to ignore the scoffs and the social anxiety. You begin to recognize your own autonomy as a person.
You may also spark within someone that confidence to follow suit and maybe start questioning what is just social conditioning vs something actually meant for personal/social safety.
"In order to liberate others, one must liberate themselves", as the saying goes.
What rules should I break?
I really can't answer this for you. It's up to you and understanding your own agency in deciding what personal social/legal rules you want to break.
But a simple starting-out rule that I often tell people they can break first is social/work-related ones. Low stakes. Here's some examples:
When someone asks you "how are you doing?", don't default to "good, you?". Be a bit more open, doesn't have to give deep details, you can just say something like "Honestly, pretty tired." or "pretty great, got a little love note from my wife this morning with breakfast while I was heading out the door" (this one I used recently). You can also make some joke to break the monotony, I like saying "Awake and not crying" which often gets a chuckle.
Wear pajamas when going to the grocery store or alternatively overdress when going to the grocery store. We often always say we'll wear X fancy thing on a special occasion. You're alive, that is a special occasion, wear that dress.
Be honest without being a dick when someone asks for your opinion. Work on shedding that fear of expressing your opinion. If you're in school, raise your hand to answer questions if you otherwise don't out of fear of looking "stupid", you're in school you're all relatively stupid. If you feel the urge to be productive, fight that urge and try to give yourself a break, you don't need to productive at all times. For men, do/wear something that someone else might call "gay" or "feminine". So on and so on.
I can go on listing a bunch of examples, but then this blog would be a fucking novel. This is just a way to spark ideas for what is supposed to act as a sort of "gateway drug" to the "harder stuff"
The Harder Stuff
Now you're breaking real rules. Yesterday's telling someone you don't feel like going to some gathering instead of trying to make up an excuse, is today's jaywalking.
Now for the harder stuff. These ones might take a bit more courage to do.
For me, it's been at my train stations. For context, there's platforms you stand at to board the train, and a ramp that leads to a walkway that you're supposed to use to cross to the other platforms. I started just jumping down and jumping back up onto the platform, completely skipping the long walk around down the ramp. I'm physically capable of doing so, the rails aren't electrified, and the train doesn't move nearly fast enough to catch me by surprise (it barely goes above 20mph when approaching a station).
Another example is Jaywalking. If there is literally no cars anywhere in sight, just walk across. People will often follow with you to my surprise. Some might not, some might give you an odd look. Good. You're doing multiple things, stress testing your reflex to obey, as well as combatting that peer pressure. For me, it's also one small act of defying the car-centric society and infrastructure we've built.
You have to be aware of your surroundings with these ones. Be aware of any potential immediate threats, cars, trains, bikes, cops. The idea is to stress test, not land yourself with a medical bill or a ticket.
After seeing a video of traffic in the Netherlands where people were walking, biking, and driving without any form of stop sign/light in sight. I obviously wouldn't jump down if there was an active train coming (look both ways and all that). I started questioning "what's stopping us from doing this for ourselves?
There's also dealing with confrontation. Telling some pervert harassing someone to pound sand for example. Or putting a racist in his place. An example that I think about often is this time my wife and I were on a bus waiting to get back to the cruise ship while on a stop in Mexico. There was this couple, a Thai woman I had a conversation with and this dollar store Henry Winkler looking motherfucker she unfortunately calls a husband. In the front of the bus came this group of Chinese women who were talking amongst themselves in Mandarin. Well, old coot decided to start loudly shouting that stereotypical "bing bong ching chong" shit that racists do to make fun of Asian people. Made my fucking blood boil, but I did nothing in that moment out of the likelihood of escalation. I'm not afraid of confrontation. I've worked in retail and have told customers in no uncertain terms to kiss my ass, but in the moment I didn't. Maybe had my wife not been there, who is far more anxious about confrontation than me, I would have. Anyway, He eventually stopped when his wife got him to stop being an asshole for a second, but I regret not saying something. Never again.
Do what you feel you feasibly can safely. Commit time theft at work, tag a political message in a bathroom stall with sharpie (I mean in areas like a 7-11 or some franchise, not a small coffee shop), pirate from greedy corporations, etc., etc.
All this to essentially be said, exercise your personal autonomy and practice sticking up for yourself/others and practice defiance in the face of oppressive systems.
In conclusion
This is just one aspect of proper social change, but a very important one. Ruthlessly question the legitimacy of a social/institutional rule, and if it ends up making no sense and if you feel safe enough doing so to push yourself out of your comfort zone, then do it.
If you read all this, congratulations. You just got tricked into reading a little bit about Anarchist calisthenics. If you want a little more information, I'll share this link. Even if you don't consider yourself an anarchist, it's still a useful tool because one day protests aren't going to be these neat little government-sanctioned marches on a Saturday. With that, I'll leave you with this little quote:
“One day you will be called on to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay ‘in shape’ so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is ‘anarchist calisthenics.’ Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you’ll keep trim; and when the big day comes, you’ll be ready.” —James C. Scott, Two Cheers For Anarchism
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as of writing this...
Ready for the weekend. Just wanna spend time with my family. Been making good progress on Blood Meridian finally now that I'm taking a train to commute to work. I read about 1-2 chapters each day, and when I finish a chapter I'll often just stare out the window at the view. I tried seeing if I could use my skateboard to make my walk from car-to-station-to-work faster, and about ate shit so I'm gonna have to practice (and maybe get some better wheels). Also been working on a Windows XP gaming rig which has been fun, got that aquarium screensaver going.