Being Serious is Hard – Part 2

I was thinking today on what I wrote in “Being Serious is Hard – Part 1”. If we look beyond the obvious proofing errors and terrible writing style, I think there were some valuable keys to unlocking the psyche that is Zeus Thaber. (please pardon the awesome pseudonym.)

I have found the following things to be true:

1.  Sometimes I really can’t be serious when the situation calls for it. There is an element of my personality that gets stuck in lighthearted mode. It can often take a jump start from a ‘beyond normal circumstances’ moment to push me into seriousness.

2.  By putting up this affective barrier, I am being a selfish person. Not only am I denying those around me from experiencing the whole spectrum of my character, but I am also denying myself from experiencing the same in others.

While I am having to be more serious these days, perhaps I shouldn’t see it as such a bad thing. I recall writing in a draft of the first post that, “the pressure of this seriousness weighs on my heart like a load of lead bricks.”

First, we should all note how terribly melodramatic that sounds. Which is probably why it didn’t make it into what we will affectionately refer to as a ‘final draft’. Though it might also be important to note that I really did feel like that. It was a genuine toss up between posting it here or on myspace, right after the posts about how ‘my parents don’t understand me’, how ‘I can’t stop giggling in class’ and ‘omg, LOL!1!!, you have to take this personality quiz!’.

But I have digressed.

I think all of the seriousness floating around felt like a load of bricks for the same reason that the bar feels heavy the first time a person goes to the gym. They aren’t used to being able to deal with that much weight. So, metaphorically speaking, my lighthearted muscles are overdeveloped, and my serious muscles are languishing as a result.

So, I wondered about myself juxtaposed against the people that are habitually serious, and if it means that all the responsibility rests with me?

I say it doesn’t. It was a ridiculous assumption to assume that it did. What responsibility does rest with me is in successfully maintaining a balance between lightheartedness and seriousness. And more importantly, being able to discern when a situation calls for one or the other. Anyone else’s perceivable lack of balance should be my last concern.

Ok, that’s all.