People, dare to live!
I read this in a Dutch newspaper yesterday, and, if I dare make a disclosure, I think it's been my central problem in life. I haven't held back completely, but I haven't always dared to develop something, to follow through. At times, I've dared the wrong things. I've been impulsive. I've been destructive.
It's an easy command to make, but a difficult one to follow. What is anyone's impulse in "dare to live?" What is central to the "dare." It could be interpreted in so many different ways. What should I dare. Is it calculated, or is it impulsive. After all, I could dare to dance through the center of Rotterdam as a performance piece in brightly colored clothing, all the while, singing a ditty, or I could dare to let out a loud walloping bellow. On the other hand, I could dare to be quiet, reserved, to hold back, and why not?
The article also commands, "take life seriously." I guess it's a combination of seriousness, and courage. What to take seriously. What to discard as irrelevant. Too much worry, and as a result, a lifetime of hesitation, measured response, relativism. I suppose the daringness the article refers to also entails intensity, but intensity can be misleading, a wash of mis-wired emotion when tireless striving is what's really necessary. Even so, there are no guarantees. There are no guarantees, humpf, that old adage.
What if I dare to sit at home, reading all day long? Is that the "right" choice. What if I dare to take care of my children myself? Is that daring, or is it a cop-out? Am I taking too much risk by neglecting to maximize my earning potential, or will I be pleased after years of tireless mothering results in happy, well-developed children? Is daring a life of adventure in far-off lands. Daring to quit one's job, and spend a year writing a novel? Is daring going for that impossible career, developing a talent to the fullest, without restraint. Is daring speaking my mind. Daring can also easily be stupidity. Daring can lead to perilous consequences, to ruin. Daringness can easily be a trap of illusion, when ordinariness, or simpleness is often, for most of us, a more viable recipe for personal, and familial satisfaction.
There have been times when, after some consideration, I've decided to "just do something," but this can be hit or miss. Sometimes just doing something can lead to regret, or to nothing at all. Other times, it can bear accidental fruit. I could just dare to go see a movie, or just dare to take a course, but daring to do nothing might just be the better option, after all. I could just dare to start a blog, just as millions of others have dared to do, but is that daring, after all.
In the end, there are no guarantees, daring, or no daring. After all, daring can be very misleading, don't you think? Perhaps, "people, dare to think!" might be a better command. Then I'm led to the question, what should I dare to think about? There's so much to think, and not to think about. There's so much to do, and not to do. I could dare to leave Europe, too, but I haven't yet, so I'm not sure where that might lead me, my husband, or my children...
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