The collective "we" consciously, but
most often unconsiously, crawl out to end of life's limbs until they eventually, snap. Then everyone wonders, "What Happened!" And
ponders the "Why?"
This is the destructive process of complacency... It's elastic. And like a tired
elastic band, once stretched, it is either unable to contract, or snaps at which point one ties the elastic
to re-use it... or discards it all together.
I'm not against contentment, it's just that as I look at the world through the eyepiece
of complacency, I see that most problems occur after complacency has eroded the utility of its original contentment.
We all know the old wisdoms... "Don't Rock The Boat!" (To which I ask, "Why
not, some bad people may fall out!). "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It!" (How about improving it?) And
of course the 60's slogan... "If It Feels Good, Do It!" (Welcome to Obese America).
Hakuna Matata (roughly, "No Problem!") is one of my favorite songs from the smash
Broadway play, "Lion King." So is the classic "Che Sera Sera" (Whatever Will Be Will Be). Both
are "feel good" songs which promote ideas that help in little ways to escape, or explain-away, the burdens of life, itself.
Certainly, as a mode for life, I favor Hakuna Matata over the doleful
worry about all problems. Unfortunately, the spirit of Hakuna Matata does not eliminate all problems; in ways,
it merely acts as bathroom spray which "masks" the odor. Many problems are pernicious. And the only way to really
not worry about them requires their elimination. Sharks at beaches are real problems. "Hakuna Matata" will cause a lost limb...
or life!
Of course, some problems are spontaneous... a meteor impact, for example.
If one is at "ground zero" s/he is a goner. No amount of preparation -- or problem solving -- will save your, or any
dinosaur's sorry butt.
However, most other problems are not spontaneous in terms of favorable
solutions... even tornados which seem to fit the fickle category at first blush. STILL... In the tornado
belt, most people don't have tornado shelters -- a cheap solution to saving the family and its treasure such as pictures,
papers, and jewelry. Why? It's a good question. Yet, yearly we see what could
be "file footage" of families mourning their lost possessions. Are they "victims" of Nature's caprice,
or their own human stubborness? Ditto for the people living on high risk shorelines.
Moving On: The projects with which I have involved
myself have, in my mind, an element of complacency. Being a "reductionist" I like to "argue" closer
to the tree than at the end of the breaking limb. For me it is simpler to get to the bottom line.
Creeping Complacencies Cause Catastrophies
It's Just A Matter
Of Time!
