Posted at 9:32 AM PST
Howdy, Pardners…
Our lives are not narratives. Not movies. There is no background music, and there is no plot. There are no cameras aimed at us.
Perhaps, far into the future, historians might write about us (as a group) if we somehow become conscious of our collective situations, and then take actions concerning those situations. Or, they may write our collective unwillingness to become conscious.
Our current crop of political teabaggers might nudge at the edges of the historian’s narrative, but we don’t yet know what the results of the teabagger efforts will be. This populist anti-intellectual movement might actually obtain enough power to lead us into fascism, or it might simply fracture internally and go away. We don’t know.
Our lives have no voiceovers or subtitles.
And that’s okay.
Once you figure out that you’re just not that important in the Big Picture, it takes a huge load off. It’s a form of cosmic humility, and once you internalize it, there is a lot of comfort in that humility. You begin to live your life for yourself… on your own terms.
Historians might write about our times as the “social networking era”. Generations of people who have unlearned the ability to interact in the real world, but who are highly skilled at making themselves the center of attention in an artificial world. Again, we don’t know.
Not that pride is a bad thing, and neither is it the antithesis of humility. If you have some skill or knowledge in a given subject, you should take pride in that. For instance, I’m very skilled in the use of firearms. I spent years honing that skill, and proved that skill during years of competition. I take some pride in that. But I’m also humble enough to know that there are many people whose skills far exceed my own.
Narcissism is the antithesis of humility. Narcissism can be loosely defined as being delusional about your value to humanity and/or your real world knowledge and toolbox of skills.
Living in your head as if you are the protagonist in the narrative… the star in the Movie of Life… is narcissistic. The world just isn’t that into you. Really.
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It’s the movie in their heads….
In the course of normal conversations, I sometimes ask young folks if they’ve ever done a particular thing… usually a particular thing that they are speaking about with great knowledge.
It is a yes or no question.
But I don’t get a yes or no. What I get are rambling answers that reference YouTube, movies, television, or perhaps even a reference to knowing somebody who actually did that particular thing.
“That’s a yes or no question. You have either done it, or you have not.”
“Uh, well… no. I’ve never actually done it.”
They are watching a movie in their heads, and they are unable (without a bit of uncouth intrusion of reality) to separate the virtual from the real. For them, watching something on a computer, television, or movie screen is exactly the same as doing it in real life. They’ve incorporated it into their consciousnesses. They live in an unreal world. A narcissistic world. They are delusional about their value to humanity and/or their real world knowledge and toolbox of skills.
Thus… we have an insider joke… “You can’t drive a nail with a laptop.”
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It’s a hard thing to do. It’s hard to not see our lives as a narrative. It’s hard to shake the movie scenes from our heads. It’s hard to not talk about how we feel without referencing a television show or movie footage.
But it can be overcome. All you have to do is keep saying to yourself… “My life is not a narrative. It’s not a movie. There is no background music, and there is no plot. There are no cameras aimed at me.”
Give it a try.
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Speaking of movies…. I finished this column, but didn’t get to post it immediately, because Diane and I had to run out and see Avatar 3D. We’re giving it two giant thumbs up, because it was a visual feast. Go see it on the big screen in 3D. It’s well worth the money.
Yes, the plotline was developed by a nine year-old, and the script was written by two eleven year-olds. But… you’re not there to be educated. You are there to be entertained by a next level visual experience.
And to all of those cultural commentators and movie critics who want to make the plot and script a launching pad for social commentary…. Get a life. It’s a cartoon.
Have a day.
Riley
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