Thank you for the Fool

What is it that keeps us from trusting in others, the world, or ourselves ?

Is it the fear of being fooled?

Once we have been fooled, we can no longer be what we were before we were fooled. So maybe it is the fear of change?

If we are a fool for love, we may have our trust betrayed and our innocence will never return.

If we appear foolish in the eyes of others, we may be banished from the tribe or the high school clique, and we all know how devastating that can be. You can’t go back. Change is scary.

We have an aversion to looking like a fool. What does a fool look like?

The fool or the jester is an entertainer whose madness or imbecility makes him a source of amusement and gives him license to abuse and poke fun at anything, even us.

The fool can get away with telling the hardest truths just because he is a fool.

Some fools have a naiveté that keeps them happy for their whole lives. Other fools are just risk takers.

Fulton was a fool for a Steam Boat and look where that got him—and us (after a whole lot of abuse from his peers).  Fulton was a fool for change.

There are a lot of historical and mythological fools, jesters, and tricksters like Loki or Coyote.

They trick us and cajole us into changes.

There are also some modern comedians that trick us into looking at the world around us with open eyes through our laughter. They inspire change in the world by changing our perspectives.

So being a fool does not seem so bad to me. I can say anything I want, trust in the world, and perhaps I can create change without being afraid of what I look like to those girls back in high school.

King Lear said “Jesters do oft prove prophets.”

I think we should pay attention and put a little trust into it.

Qui non stultus?

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~ by leakelley on April 16, 2009.