Why should you care?

I begin this foray into the blogosphere by attempting to answer the question posed in the title. Why should you care? Well, specifically about this blog, there are easily far bigger fish to fry (or broil, which is my preference) but then, that really isn't the question.

If I was talking about global events, like the tragedy in Haiti, the answer would be relatively simple. People are in need, people are desperate. They are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, so of course we should care. For the vast majority of us, it isn't a question, and therefore not the answer I'm seeking.

As a friend once said, life isn't about the big moments, be they tragic or glorious. It is about those cold, dark Tuesday mornings in February, when we rise grudgingly from our beds and set ourselves to the menial tasks of the day. It's about the people, community and environment around us that we know are important, but are often taken for granted.

We sometimes find ourselves plodding along, feeling adrift, while trivial annoyances and distractions poke at our patience to the point where we snap at the nearest person, or inanimate object, for no particular reason.

There are a couple of key elements that make up that fine line between being a responsible, functioning and quasi-rational human being, and walking the streets shouting at lamp posts. One of them (and try to constrain your gag reflex) is love. As cheeseball as it sounds, love, in its various forms: intimacy, compassion, security, forgiveness, etc., is one of those tenterhooks that keeps us from tumbling into the abyss.

The other, if you hadn't already guessed, is laughter. No, not the laughter of the megalomaniac supervillan (although still entertaining), nor the laughter of derision that comes from watching another person's spectacular failure (which is mostly funny because we're glad it wasn't us). I mean that full-on, deep in the gut, let-loose, belly laugh. It's the laughter that, in spite of how horrible the situation, somehow makes us feel better. It's the laughter that helps us accept how imperfect we can be; that unlocks the grip of ego, and frees us, at least momentarily, from the world's perception of who we should be.

Think of the last scene from "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World". If you haven't seen it, finish this blog then immediately go and get a copy, you will not regret it.

True, the catalyst for that laughter came at someone else's expense, but at its core, it was all about letting go of the past and lifting the weight of the present.

So, why should we care? Well, we just do. We can pretend we don't, but it's just a put-on to appear strong. We get annoyed, frustrated and angry because we care. We care about injustice, we care about the economy, we care when our hockey team loses two games in a row.

We just do; and that's okay. Otherwise we're Dexter, driving around town with duck tape, plastic sheeting and shiny cutting tools in the trunk...and that just ain't right.

So that's it, this blog is about caring. No, silly goose, it's about the pushing back against all those things that pull us away from what really matters in life. Filling the spaces between celebration and sorrow with something meaningful. Looking into the abyss, and laughing our arses off.