Tuesday, July 20, 2010

You're A Joke - I'm A Joke

Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.

G. K. Chesterton
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It's very difficult not to take oneself too seriously in this world of thunder and splat. When you stop to think about it our lives are filled with those moments that show us how silly we are sometimes. I hit the nail on the thumb. I sat down to rest and relax in a puddle on the chair. I forgot my phone number at a crucial moment. I was so tired I got on the D train instead of the A train and ended up in The Bronx, far from home. I could write an entire autobiography just about the dumb things I did.

When I started taking a drawing class the first pose was 10 minutes long. I drew an awful picture about 2 inches big in the center of a 20 inch drawing pad. I eventually learned to draw but I kept that drawing around for a long time just to remind myself of how much I didn't know once. It was humbling, but amusing.

There's a quote I have somewhere that says if you think you're important try giving orders to someone else's dog.

One of the dangerous mud puddles along the way is literalism. I must have a bizarre sense of humor. I enjoy the ironies and absurdities of life. Last Spring when the mosquitoes were rampant, dining on my ankles, someone asked me what I was doing sitting on the front porch and I answered that I was feeding the livestock.

Sometimes when I say things that are meant to be humorous people take me seriously. If I say I stagger dawn the street looking like Sasquatch, it means I haven't had enough exercise, I haven't trimmed by beard lately and I need a hair cut.

There's a sign on the entrance to the local elementary school playground which reads "NO TRESPASSING AFTER DARK" an obvious warning to predators to confine their shady business to the day time. I know that's not what it means, but that's what it says. It always gives me a chuckle.

One day I was walking down the sidewalk in Philadelphia. I turned around and saw a truck following me. What was a truck doing on the sidewalk? Don't ask. And why was it following me? I'll never tell. If I told people that story they wouldn't believe me. See what I mean?

Another detour on the road to angeldom is to believe that things won't change. The only thing permanent about this mortal life is that nothing is permanent. The guy with his chin stuck out adamantly sticking to the old way of doing things and refusing to adapt is heading straight for the pot hole or the chair with the puddle on it.

I don't know if any of us will ever achieve that angelic state of lightness but it wouldn't hurt to start with a beer or a cup of tea and a laugh or two at ourselves.

DB - The Vagabond
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THANK YOU:
Bruce
Diane
Nance
Pacifica
Ally
Val
Arlene
Mary
Sue
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SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

5 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad to see this. I laugh at myself every single day. Today's entry is worth rereading on certain days. ~Mary

Arlene (AJ) said...

I've always believed that if you can't laugh at yourself than you aren't really allowing yourself to handle whatever might come up every day and that leads to stress which surely isn't worth it. A laugh beats crying or anger any time.

Ken Riches said...

Self laughter is a wonderous thing, I try and do it each and every day.