Looking foolish does the spirit good………
Just what is this April Fool’s Day fooling around? The history of this day is unclear, which somehow seems fitting to the spirit of the day:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0401/April-Fools-Day-history-Be-wary-of-those-who-say-they-know.
In any case, I started thinking about the word “fool”. The Oxford Universal Dictionary defines a fool as:
1) One deficient in judgment or sense
2) One who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, such as a clown or jester.
3) One who is made to appear a fool.
How does it feel to be the “fool”? Unless it’s by our own choosing, as in definition 2, most of us don’t readily take to the notion of doing or saying something foolish. And if someone has made you appear foolish, as in def. 3, well, that can be downright embarrassing.
Feeling the fool and being mortified at its discovery have to do, I suspect, with our pride and ego. Defining who we are, or want to be, gives us a way to distinguish ourselves and isn’t that what pride and ego are all about?
In an effort to protect our backsides and spare ourselves the loss of pride and dignity, we are capable of concocting all sorts of preventive strategies, such as:
It’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool
than to open it and leave no doubt.
–Mark Twain
Or:
So, rather than appear foolish afterward, I renounce seeming clever now. William of Baskerville in ‘The Name of the Rose’
But wait -Hold on! Being “foolish” can humble us, and goodness knows I/we can benefit from a good dose of “humble” now and then. Humble gives us a chance to remember we are, after all, imperfect members of our shared humanity and drop this silly striving for a prideful separateness.
Looking foolish does the spirit good. — John Updike
So in that spirit, I joyfully share this wonderful poem by my friend Nadine Aiello. May we all have a wonderfully foolish day!
Today (and everyday)
be a fool for love
a fool for dreaming
a fool for beauty
a fool for magic
a fool for seeing
a fool for trusting
a fool for feeling
a fool for believing,
and for all the fools
too many to mention,
blessed be.
Nadine
4. 1. 8.
….but oh my goodness,there is such a thin line between
doing your spirit good and embarrassing yourself:)