Robin Williams, being the greatest comedian the world has seen, may have been the saddest man on earth.
He joked about cocaine was God's way of saying that you had too much money. But success has a way of isolating one from the rest of mankind. And out of that loneliness, one becomes an individual. When an individual connects with every individual at the same time, it is as if he could connect with the whole world, even when the whole world is not at one with itself.
No comedian ever intends to be funny. The comedian merely presents the world as it is not what everybody sees it to be, and as a result the situation seems funny to everybody - but not to the comedian. The comedian is dead serious in making a point about the reality of the world, and that reality is disbelieved and hence the comedian seems funny to the audience. Being laughed at, the comedian takes a bow and happily accepts the cash as the applause and duly blow that cash on cocaine. It completes the cycle of the madness of the world, and when the laughing stops, the comedian does not seem that funny anymore. Comedy is dead serious, and life is not a joke.
The world relishes comedy because the world is a sad place. That we can all laugh despite the meaninglessness of everything is that laughter is the only sane response to nervousness, to uncertainty, to ignore, to not knowing what is going to come next. Bit by bit, things happen all the time, sometimes to us but most of the time to everywhere else. Things are happening all the time and we don't know what they are. That's when we try to make sense of life. And when we can't make any sense of the life, that is when we think that life is a joke.
But to go on living, we cannot think that life is a joke. The next level down is that we think that life is funny. And we laugh life off and after the laughter, we get on with the drudgery of life again. And that is called living life.
It is therefore moment by moment that we prod along and when the next moment does not come, that is the end of the game for us.
The blip then goes on elsewhere, and life goes on regardless of us.
RIP, Robin Williams.
3 comments:
A: A great loss to our humanity.
B: Man is the only animal which can laugh at himself. The hyena looks too sneaky to share pole position.
A: He should have applied his own medicine. Laughter. It would have coasted him over that difficult moment when he made his final post-autumnal decision.
B: Sad but true. No matter how ebullient or depressive a moment, it will pass.
Often a good night's sleep followed by proper bowel discharge will effectively dispel all negativity. And eat more vegetables, especially bitter gourd, but eat less meat.
Ninety percent of the world's problems are caused by toxins and free radicals.
Some have whispered the balance ten percent is caused by politicians and economists but that is of course arguable.
A:(coughs). Do you know he was Garp? If only he had been Gump, he would have carried on because a Gump doesn't think too much but takes life as a box of chocolates since you never know what you will get.
He should also have taken hope from Hope. For that matter Lewis or Chaplin or Moe. Or even Mr Bean.
Or he could have adopted a pet. Not a cat which is like, you know, the you-help-me-i-help-you tetchy kind. But a dog like a collier or a beagle.
As someone once said, life is just a game. Like football. Just as you are barreling down the field towards the goalpost for the decider, the whistle blows you offside.
As if carrying the message we should be wary of getting what we want for the disappointment can be such a put-off as to deplete our interest-free emotional bank account which is all that is bolstering us throughout our life.
B: Going off like this in his sixties is so sad.
A: Someone said a man in his sixties should be able to do anything to his heart's content without fear of breaking any principles.
B: What principle could that be to end it unnaturally? Like Hemingway. Why not stay the full course like a Schweitzer or a Theresa?
A: Probably a sense of futility that had overwhelmed at a fatal moment.
B: I imagine we see that a lot in the Middle East.
A: Middle East? Do you know Herzl in 1904 already envisioned what we are seeing today over a century later - the tribal dissolution of Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurd?
But let's not talk about that. Life is sad and sickening enough.
B: Life is a three-stage rocket. When young, imitate because it is the easiest. When middle-aged, experience because it is bitter enough for building character. And when old, reflect because it is the only damn thing left you can do since all your senses are already failing you. Wakakaka.
A: I see you still have a sense of humor. Yes, we must learn to laugh at ourselves and not take life too seriously.
B: Oh, that will be hard to do.
A: Why do you say that?
B: Because all our laughing bones have already been tickled silly by the antics of buffaloes in our political landscape.
A: Is there a way out of such a ridiculous situation where those upon whom we depend to lead the country forward are actually sending it back to the stone ages?
B: I say, you pay?
A: Ok! Though i never thought you so earthly.
B: Earthy. Not earthly. Right,the way out is simple. We must individually be serious about life.
We must every morning write out a one-day contract with ourselves. This document will be based on a template.
A: Ah, a novel idea! Pray continue.
B: The template of this one-day contract written to bind ourselves contains key elements.
The first clause says stay focused in everything we do.
The second clause says renew your faith in the true key to success. It is not ambition nor wealth nor power. It is just humility. We must be deeply humble.
The third clause says we must own up to our own problems. We must tell ourselves the truth about them so that they can become a part of our past. The moment we lie to ourselves they migrate to become a part of our future.
The fourth clause says we can and must make small changes to add value to every minute of our daily life. It is important to achieve doable value even if the action be small.
The fifth clause asks us to maintain a healthy personal connection to others so that we don't get too withdrawn into ourselves.
A: What capital ideas! But how does all that help transform our political landscape?
B: (sighs). If those bloody dumbass politicians just sign their own one-day contracts with themselves, they would become better people and therefore more righteous leaders of some value.
A: I'm afraid that's beyond them. Most have already pawned their souls to the governor of the central bank and she's just itchin' to raise the interest rate again.
B: Then it's too late. We're doomed. What was it you said he took?
A: Now, now. Don't be so sad. Be happy. Life is just a game. Come, laugh with me. I'm the only friend you have at this fateful moment. But trust me. You'll never be lonely with me around. I'm always a jolly good fellow. Laugh, my friend!
B: Hahaha. Since i've said, now you pay.
A: Oh? Pay what?
B: I've laughed so heartily my comic bone is aching. Since the edict is out to keep off a certain type of establishment where i can get the bone treated, what say you we perk up the economy on your account?
A: Confound it, i kena tipu again. But hey i distinctly remember you signed a one-day contract with yourself just this morning. Clause six said keep your life simple and sparse always.
B: That's not a clause. It's a fine print and you know how bad my eyesight is these days. The night is young. Let's go!
A: Home, my friend. Go home. Where you want to go, you won't last one hour.
B: For the edification of the uninitiated dunggu's reading in, fifty five minutes including recovery, to be precise.
A: But doesn't the second clause say be humble? Just make sure you don't kick any bucket.
B: Don't worry. If i do and it is the end, it won't matter. If i do and it continues somewhere else, be assured i will transmit a short url to you.
A: Grief! Not again...
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