As most of you who know me know, I have never done well with humor with edge. It seems like so much pain is delivered packaged as "I'm just kidding." or "It's a joke." It's a fine line between taking life lightly and laughing at the absurdity of our human condition and our individual accomacations to it and trying to gain an edge over others by laughing at them. Right now I'm reading an amazingly comprehensive book called Bullied by Carrie Goldman. It goes way beyond childhood school bullying and cyber bullying to the theme of meanness in our culture. I saw way too much of it in the election process, which is maybe one reason this particular area of darkness calls to me right now. A quote from the book that reverberates with me is by actress Chase Masterson from Star Trek. "I think it's 'in' on some horrific level for people to be mean. Talk shows and comedy shows say it's okay to laugh at other people. But it's not okay. It's certainly not a 'do unto others' attiotude." For myself, I am going to pay careful attention this month to my language, especially avoiding use of the word "hate" even lightly.
2 comments:
Victoria, great idea for your next series. Enjoying seeing your regular posts again, though I rarely comment these days! Enjoyed briefly seeing Bob when he stopped through town this afternoon. What an exciting opportunity he is on his way to experience!
There are so many evidences of meanness in our world, Victoria. After a while I think we don't even recognize them for what they are. Good for you for focusing on eliminating the word 'hate' this month.
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