There is a pervasive contemporary opinion that feeling or expressing joy somehow makes you a ‘less serious person’. This is patently nonsense, akin to dismissing someone’s ideas because of their accent or dialect, which still happens widely in my country, (especially with people from the Midlands or the West Country being seen as coming across as somehow less intelligent). As a large, widely distributed species, much of humans’ strength and adaptability comes from the huge variety of ways we have historically moved about, communicated, procured food, or organised ourselves into groups. The almost infinite variation in local customs should be proof enough that there is no one right way to be a human and I personally advocate for the view that we will need all the myriad ways over the coming difficult times.
First published here with full transcript, notes and more images, October 9th 2023.
Episode 46 - An even keel is not the only way