It's All Performance Art 1

Don't you sometimes get tired, Gentle REader, of how seriously we all take everything? The planet is dying! The Dump is still president of the Paranoid States of America! And the spokesperson about climate change is a sixteen year old Swedish girl who has Asperger's. She is a very eloquent and moving speaker, inspiring and mobilizing millions. Not a bad achievement at all for someone so young and with a neural atypical condition. But she does have three particular limitations: Asperger's, that she is just sixteen, and that she is Swedish. All of those factors combined are going to suggest someone who simply has no capacity for humour. And this is sad, given how much we need humour, and that we are needing humour more than ever, and that is simply not the strong suit for teenagers, Swedes. or persons with Asperger's! Of course it can also be argued that we need someone like Greta to kick our asses and push us out of our complacency, and this is working. But we still mustn't forget to laugh. We must not lose our capacity for joy. Everything that could possibly go wrong on our beautiful earth is indeed going wrong, it is going to be worse, and within a generation this lovely blue planet is going to be a dark blackened cinder whirling through space. Yeah, we've been hearing this for years. The earth is still turning. Yes, climate change is a problem, a huge one, but we will get through this, despite the many greedy and self-interested douchebags in power that want to keep mining and extracting and burning fossil fuels. Could it be worse? Will things get worse? Oh, probably. Will it get better? Yes. How can I be so cavalier about it? Well, for one thing, with almost everyone else taking up the call to go green, reduce our carbon footprint and save us all from planet climate destruction, I feel assured that I have done my part and that now younger and stronger voices can do it, and can do a much better job. Does that leave me off the hook? Yeah, sort of. I've done my part, and frankly, Gentle Reader, I am getting old and I feel a little bit tired these days. I know that what we have is precious. I also know that each day, each moment of our lives, is a gift, and that our lives themselves are gifts. Knowing this fills me with joy, and when I do speak about the troubles and how we need to wake out of our selfish complacency, I have opted to do it from a place of joy and gladness and thanksgiving. I am glad that others are weeping over this, because it is the tears of the virtuous that sow the seeds for a better future. I have cried enough already. Now, I simply don't just want to be happy but to share joy with others, which will also mean at times, sharing their tears, and they can also share my joy. Not a bad exchange, eh? i