Jarkko Lehmus Diary

Take A Walk On The Wild Side

I've just read through my last entry. I have to admit it was a bit on the surreal side. A brief flash of the inner workings of a very tired mind. So why push so hard if it's going to fry your head and mangle your body? Because safe living just isn't interesting! When you push past your boundaries you learn new things about yourself and about your surroundings. By breaking your boundaries you are changing the shape of your 'self' and that will change your relationship to the world around you, and change it's shape, and when the world changes you react to it and your shape is changed again... You follow? I firmly believe that when you stop learning, you die. Not necessarily physically but mentally, intellectually and emotionally. We use set ways of thinking, acting and reacting, eg. routines, to save effort and free our mind for thoughts of a more pressing matter. But what happens if there are no 'thoughts of a more pressing matter' or if we don't review and rethink our routines often enough? We end up wandering through all too similar days with not so much as an involuntary nervous twitch standing in for reactions or emotions. The first quarter of an hour of Shaun of The Dead, anyone?

That's the serious and rational reasoning against the dangers of safe living. Now on the more irrational side the argument is very simple: sensible options are less interesting and thus less entertaining. How many times have you shouted at the telly when East Enders are on and tried to make the characters to realise how stupid they are being? If they'd make more rational decisions and deal with the situations they are facing with a bit more thought in general they'd have a much easier, less colourful life, the ratings would go through the floor and the bosses would promptly pull the plug on the show and put on Big Brother with strippers and lesbians sharing beds. We feed on controversy and would all want to live interesting lives but often lack the necessary amount of brass in the crotch area to actually do so. It's much safer to watch it on the tv or read about in some dodgy tabloid. The flipside of the coin is that to satisfy the hungry masses the poor reporters have to make up stories where there aren't any. Watching other people's lives poses no risk to us but offers no involvement either. Personally I find it much more satisfying to live my own life making choices that I feel are right, taking full responsibility of the consequences of my actions, how ever stupid they may be, and trying to derive something useful from the mess I usually end up causing. I'm curious about life. It's common knowledge that curiosity killed the cat but it's also known that cats have nine lives...

Deep inside I am evil. It is my dream to, in the distant future, be the shriveled old wreck, also known as The Grandfather, telling sordid stories to my horrified grandchildren. To reach that point I have to make the journey first and I'm damn well going to make it as interesting and enjoyable as possible. But it's impossible to make an omelette without breaking a few eggs so I'm bound to tap dance on a few toes and I apologise in advance. You can't please everyone and would you really want to? May the bridges I burn light my way!

Posted by Jarkko at May 26, 2004 02:07 PM