Life As Performance Art 127

I have been up since just before three this morning, on a little better than four hours sleep. This happens often enough, so I just try to go with it and make good use of the time before I fall back to sleep. Right now I am doing my laundry. Now that the clothes are in the dryer, I will have breakfast, bring the clothes upstairs, fold and put them away, and likely be back down for another sleep of a couple of hours, so it is all good. I decided some time ago that the only way I was going to get through life okay was by learning how to roll with the punches. Which is to say, living the Serenity Prayer 101. I remember first seeing this prayer on a poster in a Christian bookshop when I was just fifteen years old. "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." It acquired, along with the Desiderata the dimensions of a cliche. But meaningful cliche. The Desiderata itself was set to music and rated high on the pop music charts in the early seventies. Everybody seemed to have their copy of the poem taped up on their living room or bedroom wall. And I thought, why not? The words are incredibly beautiful and positive, and even my mother seemed to like it. The zealous fundamentalist Christians I was involved with in the day were generally suspicious of the Desiderata, calling it a spiritual counterfeit and a document that was suspiciously New Age. Even though I kind of agreed in order to not get into any arguments, I really thought they were protesting too much. It was, and is, a beautiful poem. Well, I am going to repeat it here and on this page, Gentle Reader, just to give us a refresher: Max Ehrmann Desiderata "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. " Reading this afresh, I am reminded of how much I have tried to live my life over the last forty-eight years according to these ideas, since I first read this, and how important this legacy is to me. There is a little article about the author, Max Ehrmann, in Wikipedia. The Desiderata (Latin word for things desired) brought him posthumous fame, because it only came into the public realm following his death in 1945. Even now, I can neither add to nor subtract from the wisdom and beauty of those words in the Desiderata or in the Serenity Prayer. They have taken on such a sense of public banality, unfortunately, that I don't think they really impact a lot of us the way they should, but I am renewing my own interest, because these words need to become fresh again, and in these really troubled times, I think for all of us.