The Importance of Being Silly
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.With Oaqui*
Commentary
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My friend, Major Fun, is sometimes known as Doctor Fun, sometimes
as Professor Fun, sometimes as Bernie De Koven. He is
helping people find delight in win-win games. ...For years we have
been having dialogue about how to let Silly out of the cage. Both
"Serious" and "Silly" coexist within us. Major FUN thinks
Serious has Silly imprisoned in most of us.
These two forces operate in our consciousness. Silly can't take
action because the force of Serious overrules Silly. Serious likes
to think of itself as the Great Manager. Silliness gets bound up
by the businesslike approach of Serious, which always demands, "What's
the use?"
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and
vice versa. |
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I once said to my son, "That was a stupid movie." He
replied, "No Daddy, it wasn't stupid. It was silly, and I like
silly movies." That's very, very discerning.
Silly doesn't get out often enough - so there's this conspiracy
not to let Silly out because Serious says Silly is stupid.
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Silly
and Serious play best when they play together. A movie can be silly
and not only not stupid, but positively profound.
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We need to learn how to play and let Silly out so that we can simply
have fun. Sometimes the child in us does play, but we feel guilty.
Sometimes the parent in us scolds us for gambling with or wasting
our time. Very seldom does the adult in us get to play with high
consciousness - high play facilitates the kind of communication
in which my heart can communicate with your heart and share energy
and joy.
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Without
Silly, Serious tends to take him and herself too seriously. |
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Imagine I put some music on and, with all my seventy-six years,
I look in the mirror and begin to dance. Objectively, I am not a
ballet dancer. But subjectively, OY! am I a ballet dancer! If I
can make a leap I can make eight scissors on the way up! We don't
have a chance to use Silly in this way often enough. Someone once
told me that people don't stop playing because they get old: people
get old because they stop playing.
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Where
we get Silly and Serious to play together, you get Deep Fun.
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Silly brings us lots of vitamins! I once read of a research study
in which they took samples of T-cells (cells which indicate immune
function and general health) of elders before and after the experiment.
They got folks to wear the clothes they wore in the 1950's. The
researchers played the music of that era in a room decorated from
that time and had them dance to the tunes they danced to in the
1950's. They then took T-cell samples again and showed an increase
in T-cells after the merriment. It seemed to the participants that
the burdens of serious years had been lifted from their shoulders.
They experienced more vitality and energy.
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It's
all about taking fun just seriously enough.
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My suggestion is that you invite some friends over who would like
to play silly with you. Dress up in funny clothes, play games in
which everyone can win, and make time for fun and hilarity. Chances
are that you will like the experience and that you will want to
repeat it with your friends at least once a month. I suggest full
moon times as the best time to invite Silly as Master of the Revels.
Now, go have some fun with this!
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Serious
and Silly are Twins. |
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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
For more Serious and Silliness, see the Further
Adventures of Serious and Silly.
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It's all right. I understand. It's hard to take this Serious and
Silly thing, um, seriously.
You read about it. Maybe you even check out the links. And yet
you still find yourself asking yourself: "What's the actual deal,
here? What's so important about Serious and Silly that I should
potentially consider looking for them on my inner playground?"
Well, I'm glad you asked. Every game is designed to be taken seriously,
no matter how silly it seems or how silly you get when you play
it. There's got to be a challenge, a purpose - something to strive
for.
Every game evokes Serious and Silly. Every game gives Serious and
Silly an opportunity to play together, to get closer to each other,
to become more intimate, more understanding. And the better the
game is (by "better" I mean the more appropriate it is to you, and
the people and space you're playing in, and your collective moods)
the more healing, the more "wholing" the encounter between Serious
and Silly.
And the more aware you are of each, the easier it is for you to
be both.
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"Silly is first recorded in Old English, in the form sælig, with the senses 'fortuitous, happy or prosperous'. The sense 'spiritually blessed' is also attested early, as is the sense 'pious, holy, and good'. In the early thirteenth century there are textual references to 'holy martyrdom' as seli martyrdom and a female saint is referred to as a seli meiden or 'blessed maiden'. Similarly, a prayer book from the early fifteenth century describes the cely or 'blessed' Virgin Mary as follows:
Cely art thou, hooli virgyne marie, and worthiest al maner preisyng.
During the Middle English period, and especially from the late thirteenth century onwards, the meanings of the word silly become more diverse. At this time, the sense 'blessed or holy' develops into a new sense, 'innocent', but this in turn provokes a number of more negative senses, including 'harmless', 'deserving of pity', 'helpless', 'insignificant' and 'feeble'.
Margaret Scott in AskOxford.com
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