the Mike Stamfords of the world

For those of you who have seen BBC Sherlock, you understand what I'm talking about. For those of you who didn't, allow me to explain before I get into all the metaphors and poetic confusing stuff.

Mike Stamford is this guy.



He was friends with John Watson at St. Bartholomew's Hospital back when they were studying to be doctors.

Stamford is a teacher at Bart's now, and John is an ex-army doctor.



They ran into each other in London when Watson came back from war. They got talking about how hard it is to find a flat in London, and Stamford went "you know, I met another guy today who is having the same problem. Maybe you two could be flatmates."

That other guy was Sherlock.



And thus Stamford initiated one of the most famous bromances, partnerships, friendships etc. to exist.

Now back to my point.

Loads of people think that they're useless. They have no purpose. That they're just here to eat cake and wear band/fandom merch and pet cats. Well, maybe they are. But the thing is: that's not bad.

There's this mindset that if you don't do something special, if you aren't traditionally successful (like a billionaire or a CEO or whatever), you're useless. That's not true.

There are Sherlocks of the world--people who will do great things and be in the spotlight and get the money and be a big impact.

There are Watsons of the world--the people who stand just offstage, who book the Sherlocks their gigs and make sure they pay their taxes and eat and do their best.

And there are the Stamfords. The people who look at the Watsons of the world and say "you know, I think I have a flatmate for you". The people who look at the future Sherlocks and say "you know, you're really talented, you should use that". The people who look at the other people, the more well known people and say "they are talented, they stand for good things--I'm going to support them."

And maybe they know a future Sherlock. But they look at them and say "you've got gift, you've got a passion--continue that."

The Stamfords may be in the Sherlock or Watson's life for a short time. But one action they make could change the course of the Sherlock or Watson's lives.

So, as someone who knows what she is going to do with her life, I say this to the Stamfords, to the people who think they're useless, who think they don't have a purpose: you help us find ours. You give us reasons to get up and do what we do, even on days when we have crippling depression or anxiety or just plain hate everything.

Maybe you're just here to eat cake, wear merch, pet cats, and scream over celebrities.

But there's nothing wrong with that.

You're filling a vital role in their lives. You're giving them a reason to do what they do.

So on days when they wake up and go "I don't know if I want to do this anymore, it's hard, it's time-consuming, etc," they open their Twitter/Tumblr/whatever and see

"You inspired me to start a support group at school."

"Your story helped me with my depression."

"Your books get me through my chemo."

"Your music is why I get up in the morning."

They see the difference they're making, and they get up and do what they do to continue making that difference.


You doing what you do--wearing merch, enjoying movies, music, books--is helping people to continue doing what they do, which in turn helps others.

You may not feel like you're doing much, but you're doing more than you imagine.

So I thank the Stamfords of the world, I love the Stamfords of the world--becuase they inspire me every day to get up and do what I can to help others through what I love.

Stamfords: You feel useless. But you're actually doing more than you can ever imagine.

• • •

This was just something that hit me a few weeks ago, and I felt I had to share it because I've seen so many people being like 'oh, I feel crappy about myself because I don't have a book published or I don't have a "real" job and I really don't have a purpose why am I here' and it's that kind of negative thinking that can dig you into depression and suicide and stuff, so I felt I needed to express my thanks to these people for being the fans and wonderful, supportive people they are.

~Olivia Ann