There are numerous quotes on the Internet advocating for "not taking things seriously." And such words are often propositioned by people who are highly successful in life, ranging from dignitaries in the media to even politicians on Capitol Hill who are often deemed the most serious workers. Just to showcase a couple:
"Do you take anything seriously? Not if I can help it. Makes life so tedious"
———— Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm
"Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different."
———— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
From the daily routines in the office buildings where professional business meetings are conducted to leisure coffee talks in Starbucks, our eardrums are perpetually absorbing, or shall we say, enduring reverberations coming from mouths of the most pompous, egotistic animals in the world, whose verbalization sometimes you have to pretend to be reading your phone to avoid. After all, who are these animals called "human beings" to pass judgments, lofty and short-sighted, onto this world? Don't they know that there is a much better thing to do with their transient existence called "living a life"? We have books and accounts throughout histories in which people work their bottoms off till it is their time to become a landowner, only finding themselves unhappy, unfulfilled, and regretting failing to spend time on the more valuable side of life —— living, actual living.
I know, I know you are probably thinking, "Living? Who are you to tell others how to live you condescending snob?" Well, I am not writing this article to judge people's ways to live. I am simply sharing what I have learnt based on my meagre personal experience in life about these ways of life, and quite coincidentally, I stumbled upon this subject upon self-reflection and now seek to formulate a proper means of organizing and expressing it. Now that we have dealt with my garrulous explanation of massive self-insecurity, we can get back to the main body this discourse.
You see, Wilde does have a point. I do agree that "[humanity] takes itself too seriously," in such a way that would not make a difference anyway. We are all ephemeral beings showered with privileges of being offered an admissions ticket to a tour in this world. We are merely guests. Surely guests can make their stay much significant and well-treasured. We have historic figures and contemporaries ones who did and are doing their best part to make this world a better place. Yet they do it in a very humble and relaxed way, not trying to expanding their power for more control for themselves. Because they understand that what they do in this world only occupies a minuscule part in the whole course of history, so the more important role to fill is to bequeath the goodness they have done to the next generations. I guess this is what they call "long-term thinking." Furthermore, since we are guests, why not enjoy our stay? When we are happy, celebrate in jubilation. When we are sad, watch a bit of comedy or talk to friends. There are ways to get about. Just like Jake Youngblood said:
"You learn to kid around and joke and not take things too seriously, because somehow it's all gonna work out for the best - or you're gonna make it work out."
That said, I'm not just preaching that we should all set off to muck around. There is another layer to this. That is, we need to take things seriously for some other cases.
Mathew McConaughey's acceptance speech for his Oscar Best Actor Award for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club", thanking his mother:
"To my mother who's here tonight, [who] demanded that [me and my two brothers] we respect ourselves. And what we in turn learned was that we were better able to respect others."
If I need to make sense of what he was saying in terms of ways to live, I think it could be said that he lives by "repecting what he does, and then he respects what other people do." Plainly reiterated, he takes himself and the things he does seriously.
Comedians are great examples to illustrate this point. Louis C.K., Robin Williams, and Jonathan Winters, all of whom are great names that will be remembered as the best in the comedy world, for their polished and honed skills in comedy. They stun the audience every time. Yet do they appear funny on stage? Do they act infantile in front of a camera? And do they exemplify what we call "the incorrigible immaturity and subversion" of crazy people? Yes. Yet do you despise them? Probably not for their great comedy career. Why? Because they take their insubordinacy, rebellion, and unconventional ways seriously. They take it seriously to illustrate a point, a point that reveals the dark side of humanity, a point that assaults social injustice in the most direct and otherwise least attempted ways. In turn, they have earned their respect and made their mark on this world. Only by respecting what you do that you learn to respect what others do.
So really is there a definite answer to the question of in the title? No really so. But it does get us reflecting how we approach life, how we talk to each other, treat our coworkers, and more importantly, treat ourselves.
