Monday, July 28, 2008

Mediocrity

Why do we shrink from absolute honesty, from absolute love, from absolute perfection? Why are we put off by excellence? Because excellence demands excellence. Perfection demands perfection. Honesty demands honesty.

It's easier for us to love things that are imperfect. Closer to imperfection. Because we do not have too much to live up to. We love them hoping that even our imperfections will be overlooked in a silent mutual forgiving.

And in these secret escapes Mediocrity is born. Don't we find it so much easier, comfortable being around people who are mediocre, almost entirely honest, somewhat talented, fairly hardworking? In fact we will mostly end up having a pretty good time with them.

It's almost always more difficult to handle people who are very nice, honest, infallible, true to their word, totally in control of their selves. Even when they don't say anything we know in our wicked little minds that they are better. That neither do we have the will nor the patience to live up to them. We are ill-at-ease, worried that we will end up doing or saying something that will make the differences very apparent. Too apparent to ignore.

Then of course, there really is nothing that is too apparent to ignore.

We keep fretting about so many problems. In our personal lives, society. We say we are trying to work towards making things better. True. Exactly true. We always work towards making it better. We do not really want to solve the problem in its entirety. We would miss the satiety, the satisfaction that this Saviour image of ours grants us. When there is no problem there need not be a Saviour, or a solution seeker. We need our time of glory. Even if it is only inside our minds.

6 comments:

  1. you know that i love you because you're someone who's actually able to write this post, right?

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  2. i am totally honest only with ppl who can take it. and even those very select few can't take it all time.

    the only person i'm honest with _all the time_ is myself. in my own head, i know all that i do and think and desire and all the glory and all the failures and so far, i haven't lied to myself even once. don't our realtionships with our own selves count?

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  3. I rarely go blog surfing nowadays but this time I'm thanking myself that I did. This is one of THE most thoughtful posts I've seen in 30 months of blogging. You're one cool dude.

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  4. hmm. I know we have had a similar conversation, more in detail too... and so I havent misunderstood you. And this is hence very cool. But it does come across as slightly egoistical, read and see? :P
    but you rock,dude!

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  5. i just looked at the nevermind badge and it occured to me, erm, "nevermind, we make music" - is that a very proper advertisement tagline? :P

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  6. Echoing Nietzsche here... "It is not your vices but your mediocrity that cries loud to heaven"

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