A happy fool or an unhappy know-it-all

[sakshi.joshi]

Time and again when I come across some disturbing news, at times I do wish I had not known about it at all. Not that the not knowing about a bad event makes it go away and of course being aware of things happening around us helps us be better prepared for unfortunate events in some way. But does it always help to be a  know it all?

A child oblivious to the realities of life, is happy in his cocoon, brimming with passion and positivity; he is fearless and ready to conquer the world. But the more we try to attain knowledge about the ways of the world, the more difficult it gets to understand the conundrum of it. As we are introduced to the grave inequalities and the unfairness of life, the confidence starts shaking, the passion starts waning, fear starts creeping in and we start to question the point of our existence.One might say that life is beautiful and worth living what with all the love and beauty surrounding us. But love of our near ones or the beauty of the nature does not give a purpose to our being. It merely gives an ephemeral meaning to the lifelessness of everything by acting like a veil, where our partial vision and vivid imagination give a sense of perfection and idealism hiding the faults of the real world. But when we start to understand the vagaries of life, we see the love and trust fading away, we see the beauty of the nature being destroyed. The juxtaposition of the two worlds forces us to ponder upon the big question ‘What is the point of it all ?’, ‘why the suffering ?’ and ‘why the daily battle with life to survive ?’.

The more we try to find the answers to these questions, the more we fail and the more miserable we get. Sometimes I wish to be a happy fool than to be an unhappy know-it-all.  

[karrie]

I found this to be quite thought provoking and it had my head swimming with thoughts. Really like this.

[JASON]

I really liked the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph - children (mostly) are
just happy and content, with not too much to think about...
thanks for sharing.

[Dew]

comparing our exposure to reality with a child's small world was excellent...nothing is taken away from the child, the world just gets bigger and we find there is more in it than we'd like to know about. Knowledge once had cannot be undone...it changes us. And there's the danger of inverting our understanding...from a place of wonder (where bad things sometimes happen) into a place of horror (where there are a few precious moments to cherish). Does the knowing make us appreciate the good anymore? or does it jade us against clinging too much to anything good? You are right...the metamorphosis makes us look past everything for something even bigger and better. - dew

[AoR]

What great words for some deep thinking. I understand where you are coming from. I used to read the newspaper when I was in my mid-teens but stopped after I realize what gruesome terrible things people are capable of. :/ It's jarring and has even jaded me a bit. Knowing, changes us. We see beyond the pretty things, the happy things. I recall going through a period of being moody and just disgusted with people but having grown up a lot since, I have come to appreciate what I DO have, and the people I love. And while the world is still full of pain, ache, sadness - there is still good, hope and kindness too.
My point is, since I'm rambling, is your piece invokes thoughts, opinions, passion. Very insightful and a great conversation starter. Thanks for sharing and congrats on Spotlight! :)

[BarryC]

simply spellbinding-well done