The world continues its accelerated descent into the abyss of chaos and unrest, the Arab countries are burning with riots, Christchurch, New Zealand is in ruins, gas prices are inching towards $5 a gallon, inflation is on the rise, unions are getting the boot, unemployment remains high and mighty,the economy is still emaciated and Bieber cut his damned hair..oh my.
Things are horrible, people are miserable, the world is coming undone, and no one seems to have a real answer for any of it. But, not surprising, the world of smile merchants and happy dancers is alive and well and ready to paste a patsy smile on your face. If that doesn't work, we can meditate, chant, take drugs, drink and get our chakras open and flowing. If all of that fails, we can spend hours on our knees praying and pleading to whatever deity is listening and hope, of course, that our prayers will receive a response.
At the risk of sounding cynical, I don't think much of these pop culture responses to the world's messy breakup.In face, I don't think the world is breaking up anyway, and for most of the world things are not all bad, or they're not all bad all of the time. It's not that I don't want to smile or enjoy my life, or that I'm not worried about the general well being of the world around me, but the denial of complexity and the chosen bliss of ignorance doesn't really help with well being at all. Certainly everyone has their own way to respond to crisis and change, but are we truly better off dancing about with smiles on our faces, thinking happy thoughts while the world rumbles under our feet, then we are if we embrace these complexities as an opportunity to connect, as a chance to reach out.
I believe in joy. I believe in being happy. I advocate for the energy that erupts when two or more people share a common connection, idea or goal. But I also have learned that true joy is more elusive when I cover my dark thoughts with gooey sweetness and artificial mumbo. When I accept that life in this nutty world is unstable and chaotic, that darkness and melancholy, failure and misfortune are a seemingly necessary counterbalance to the joy, then I feel grounded to the trembling earth I'm walking on, and happy to do so.
I say embrace joy, embrace a fecund happiness when possible, but accept that no amount of happy thinking or choosing ones attitude can relieve you of the burdens and foibles of being a human being. In fact, connecting and being with others, and giving ourselves over to frienship and companionship might just be the answer to regaining our energy and sense of well being. I might be feeling down today, and worried about the future tomorrow, but I can navigate towards friends who believe in me, engage with those who are vital and circumspect about the slings and arrows flying around me, and I start to feel better about the moment I'm in. After all, being sad can sometimes be an invitation to be with others even as we're bumming.
If you'd tried the happy dance and you don't have any more room on your "vision board" for pictures of happily ever, try calling a friend to talk, take a walk through a mall where others are engaged in ordinary activities, get together with somone you'd like to know and have a conversation. You don't need to swallow happy pills, or post smile face bumper stickers across your frown; just hang with it, feel it, write about it, share it, walk with it, let it reveal something in yourself, turn to it, get inside it...and then...if you run out of things to do, just sit, calm down and make yourself a nice, hot, cup of tea. All will be well again, I know.
Hmmmm...that sounds good.
