Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

Addiction #24 – Freedom from SERIOUSNESS
“It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial
as when they take themselves seriously …
Seriousness is the refuge of the shallow …
It is the world’s original sin.” ~ Oscar Wilde
“Seriousness is stupidity sent to college.” ~ P. J. O’Rourke
Seriousness: almost all of us soak it up at regular intervals (and almost all of us do so in
large doses) … We get frustrated with the state of our own lives or disheartened by the
state of the world; we clench our teeth, furrow our brows and grimly decide to take on the
planet’s problems — or correct others’ problems — or at the very least do battle with
problems of our own.
Maybe we choose to judge life to be a difficult struggle. Maybe we choose to believe that
the harder we work, the more trouble we encounter. Or maybe we simply decide to sit
back and glumly analyze it all; to criticize all that is wrong with others or cajole all that is
broken with life in general.
In essence, we tumble headlong into the dark pit that is “taking life too seriously”. And,
to be fair, this state of mind is not an unreasonable one to have …
Most of us been taught from a very early age to “be responsible” and “work hard” so that
we can someday, somehow “make something of ourselves”. We have learned that we
have to compete for our resources and strive for our acceptance and earn our wealth. And
we have been taught that it is the serious man or woman who has the better chance of
succeeding in such a life.
In addition, most of the primary foundations of human society are currently either
undergoing great change, or precariously teetering on the verge of doing so. Dozens of
countries are undergoing internal strife of one form or another, and dozens more are
currently at war. The global economy more closely resembles a house of cards every day,
and the planet in general is poised on the brink of an ecological shift of catastrophic
proportions.
To make matters even more challenging, the “powers that be” are using this over-ripeness
of calamity to tempt us to remain afraid – to tempt us to remain grim – to tempt us to
remain serious. The major news outlets, whether they be heard on the radio, seen on
television or viewed online, have become factories of “doom & gloom”; sucking the
amazement out of the miraculous around us, obscuring the Happiness in everything
joyous nearby and strangling the compassion from our conscience within.
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