To dO oR NoT tO dO...pun intended!

Deadlines, submissions, readings, meetings, presentations, term papers and so on and so forth... And that too, for something I know I don't really subscribe to. Something that I do not have my soul in. And why do you do certain things that do not interest you? Bandwagon effect. Yes, the answer is the bandwagon effect or peer pressure in this case. You do something because you know everyone is doing that and you do not want to be left alone or lag behind. You do not want to be seen as a laggard. But then, is it not better to do something trivial with your heart and soul rather than doing something huge, half-heartedly? Considering the larger picture, is it not something each individual (with certain exceptions, the probability of which being not more than 5%) does? We all make compromises, we all do things others do, we know we do not like something and yet go for it because we want to comply with the norms of the society. We worry more frequently than not about how others will perceive us. Is conformance to the norms really what we want to do? I sit, I ponder for a long time, I sigh, and I resume working on my submission...