The importance of a pie in the face. (rant)

Bat Boy

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Mon Jul-19-04 10:31 PM
Original message

The importance of a pie in the face. (rant)

Sometimes a thing will stick in my throat until I hock it up publicly. This is one of those time.

I am prone to depression. Every so often a wave of gloom passes through me and I really have no choice but to go with it. There is a simple tell, a sign that I’m in deep trouble. I lose my sense of humor.

When that happens I am no longer myself. I am the depression. I am not a person; I am the sum total of every problem I face, small and large, public and private. When the humor leaves I have abdicated my identity and turned over control of my life to my worst aspect.

The only reason I bring it up is that one of our resident fools has been “accused” of being silly and frivolous. As a comic writer and a lifetime student of humor all I can say is of course he is! And bless him for it!

The minute we relinquish our sense of humor we cease to be ourselves. Throughout history the function of the humorist, the fool, the clown has been to safeguard our perspective; to remind us that, in the long run, the importance we place on our problems, our own bloated sense of self-importance is passing. What is and should always be toward the front of our agenda is humanity. Lose that and the rest is pointless.

I’m not saying, “Lighten up.” I’m saying that, in these contentious and depressing times, humor is more important than ever, and it is important to occasionally stop and recognize the fool. To do so doesn’t diminish the importance of the issues we face. It’s actually quite the opposite. It says that what we face is so powerful, so important, that we need to check in every so often and recharge our batteries with a laugh. After that we can approach the problems with a renewed sense of perspective.

They are closer to priests in my estimation than…well, priests. They are the keepers of who we are, whether they want the gig or not.

- the wisdom of BatBoy	ZombyWoof	Jul-19-04 10:33 PM	#1
- That and his glow-in-the-dark guano!	Susang	Jul-19-04 10:46 PM	#3
- ewwww!	ZombyWoof	Jul-19-04 11:31 PM	#5
- Some people leave pieces of popcorn on the ground to find their way home	Susang	Jul-20-04 12:00 AM	#7
- Problem is you've got to hold it under a light for an hour...	mkuhl	Jul-20-04 12:08 AM	#9
- POPCORN!	ZombyWoof	Jul-20-04 12:36 AM	#10
- And I missed it?	Susang	Jul-20-04 01:11 AM	#11
- Nader Troll Popcorn!	ZombyWoof	Jul-20-04 01:12 AM	#12
- Ah, the one subject I missed!	Susang	Jul-20-04 01:17 AM	#14
- I like to end trouble!	ZombyWoof	Jul-20-04 01:18 AM	#15
- link!	ZombyWoof	Jul-20-04 01:14 AM	#13
- Rarely rarely comest thou spirit of delight	Hoping4Change	Jul-19-04 10:42 PM	#2
- Actually a pie in the face can be a very important political statement	Radical Activist	Jul-19-04 11:24 PM	#4
- The pie splatter heard around the world:	ForrestGump	Jul-19-04 11:58 PM	#6
- Ahhh...now that's just plain purty...	mkuhl	Jul-20-04 12:07 AM	#8
- Ok I give up	Radical Activist	Jul-20-04 02:11 AM	#16
- Nope...	ForrestGump	Jul-20-04 02:43 AM	#17