A Joker’s Life – Day 5
30-Day Writing Challenge
“Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV” ― Morty (Rick & Morty)
One of the best quotes, from one of the best shows ever made.
If you’ve played a card game with a traditional deck of cards, you know there are always a few jokers in the deck. Depending on the game you’re playing and the rules, these jokers tend to have limitless power.
Historically, jokers (also called jesters) had a specific power that others didn’t, where they were able to persuade and confront kings without concern of death… This came from their internal carelessness, as well as the honest reputation built over time. It might sound strange, but I’ve attempted to internalize this mentality for the previous 5 years of my life in different ways.
Why…?
By zooming out to the macro perspective I’m able to take myself, others, and overall life less seriously, seeing the humor in personally difficult times. A story I tell myself from time to time is very similar to Morty’s quote above…
We, humans, are just a bunch of water bags, floating on a blue rock, rotating around a massive fireball, that’s slowly sucking us into it, sitting inside of a larger solar system, that’s inside of an even larger galaxy, surrounded by an obnoxiously large universe, that’s most likely one of many universes… And our lifespan of 90ish years means nothing in the grand scheme of things… We will be forgotten, along with everything we do and say…
Yes, this might sound depressing to some of you, but for me it’s liberating! 🙂
Knowing that I’m a tiny spectacle of dust in our massive universe puts my problems into the “right” perspective. When I lose an opportunity… Or someone is rude to me… Or I’m angry over a mistake I’ve made… Or I feel like I’m not being productive enough… This all falls away and I realize that this whole thing we call life is one big game.
A game I can play in my own way, with my own rules (within reason. Ha!) and not just following what society says is “right” or “worthy”. Once this psychological weight is lifted I’m free to act, think, and interpret the world the way I want.
If you can truly internalize the fact that we’re playing a silly game and that none of what we do in our life really matters, then you’re free to do whatever you want.
Go forth my fellow Jokers and play the game! 🙂