Maybe it's just me...

I think deep down inside I am just not amused. Not amused by people's drama, by my own random drama, by the drama of life. Many times recently I've found myself putting on a generous, knowing smile and consoling my friends on different issues--but all the while I don't really mean it!! One day, I think, I'm just going to have to stop. Would this bad, I ask? I mean, being amused in general--laughing at jokes, making jokes, being silly--these are great qualities in life, in friends, and in significant others. But I feel like the line should be drawn somewhere. Laughing at life is different than condoning the ridiculousness. Sometimes laughing is the only thing you can do, but at what point does the smile seem false?

Which leads me to a favorite poem:

We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

-Paul Laurence Dunbar