as close as it gets

 After writing yesterday's post about nicknames I did some thinking. I've always felt like those names weren't intended to be derisive, but rather a form of endearment. Yes generally speaking those names weren't used when the person was present, an indication that perhaps we shouldn't be using them at all, but that wasn't always the case either. It was all a rather conditional situation and I think, the same could be said of the intent. When angry or upset those names were derisive, when you weren't,  they weren't. I think it is that way with any number of things. Descriptive or derisive? 

 In today's world it seems we immediately, by default, go to the derisive. Better safe than sorry? Yes, it seems to me that is the current thinking on all of that. Still, I wonder if it is that way in our thoughts. Call me a skeptic but I don't believe that has changed a bit. I believe we all still have those thoughts, apply those labels but just don't verbalize them as readily as we did in the past. That's the stock in trade for some comedians, saying out loud what we are thinking. I really don't think human nature has changed much over time, we are still human. And with that humanity comes faults, those faults are in conflict with our conscience. We can override conscience with reason, at least for the short term. I see that happening a great deal these days as well. It could very well be that action is at the root of all the violence, the evil actions, we are witnessing. I'll leave that analysis to the experts. I have noticed that inner conflicts usually manifest themselves in outward displays. We humans tend to lash out at whoever is available. 

 But what I was giving thought to is the idea that we should suppress our feelings. Isn't that what political correctness is all about? Yes, we are told it is exercising empathy. We are being empathic by not verbalizing our thoughts. We are told that it will make us feel better about ourselves as well. I can understand that thinking and concur with it, to an extent. I also believe we need to be honest with ourselves. Forced empathy is not empathy, but compliance. That is where the build up begins. We need a release. I'm thinking when we applied those nicknames or whatever you wish to call them, it was a mini release. All those names were applied with a grain of truth in them. They were given for a reason, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but mostly I believe for comic relief. Also the reason they say laughter is the best medicine. We do need to learn to laugh at ourselves. 

 Maybe that is part of the problem. We are forgetting how to laugh at ourselves and one another without taking offense. When I was small my two older brothers, along with Dad often teased me. They called me mackerel muscles! I didn't like it very much but it did make me struggle just a bit harder. I also knew that I wasn't as strong, as muscular as they were, and most likely never would be. I learned that it wasn't a liability, just a fact. Que sera,sera. I hinted back that perhaps their intelligence level wasn't quite up to par and that's why God gave them muscles. They were going to need them. 

 There are certainly times when I take myself a bit too seriously. I catch myself in that trap every now and again and I expect I will again. We do tend to believe in the things we do or think, unless we are deliberately practicing a deceit. There are times we feel forced into deceit as well. That's a problem that is difficult to deal with at times. Go with the flow or be ostracized? It can be a lonely road, this road to righteousness. I have noticed something however, if your belief requires others to believe it, you probably don't believe it either. True belief requires no validation. It's the only way to explain the actions of some. They must have believed it.

 You know those that were given nicknames were given a sort of immortality. That's because that name imparts a sense of familiarity to others. Even when we don't know the person personally we feel like we do. It's a part of our heritage in a way. I can speak of Moose and a certain group of people will know exactly who I am talking about. I can say, remember when cutter did this or that, and there are those that know. Those nicknames are identifiers more lasting than there given names! Memorable. Sometimes those names don't stick though and I wonder why that is. What glue wasn't present to lend that permanence? Gomez worked down to Olympic Heights Service but I don't think he is well known by that name. Was for a short time however, I remember. I remember them all fondly, even the ones I never actually met. Yup, a sort of immortality, as close as it gets I think.