Photo: www.kenlauher.com
This behaviour when you get to the bottom of it, comes from a sense of ego-based weakness. There are always a number of unresolved issues in the 'serious' person's life and they have an underdeveloped understanding of themselves and of their inner energy. They are making a choice to avoid the moment by moment small pleasures of life in order to satisfy their ego's need to exist and dominate the landscape. Serious people, rushing around being over-busy and trying to prove they are very stressed are simply very sick from an energy perspective and I suppose in many other ways also.
When you contemplate life (I often do this when watching nature shows about the oceans or the cosmos) you have to conclude that your life, no matter how much you think is going on, is really not that serious in the whole scheme of things . We need to 'back off' or 'let go' a little or a lot in order to develop a sense of play and perspective in the workplace and beyond.
The Dalai Lama is an example of a being who understands the sense of play that must be brought into your life if it is not there already. He often tickles people in the ribs, very 'serious' scientists and politicians! He often will smile and tweak the earlobe of someone he is meeting with, just for the fun of it and to convey the idea that even if we are involved in a task that appears to be important and serious, there are other things going on here that are much more important.
When you take the time each day to meditate, walk in the forest, or simply take a few minutes in quiet contemplation, you begin to understand the enormity of existence and the frivolousness of rushing around being serious within it. Stopping what you are doing and simply 'being' each day is a vital part of healing your energy.
So the next time you see someone at work who is impossibly serious about themselves and their task, simply smile, and imagine tossing a lemon meringue pie in their face. Or tweak their ear lobe and gently remind them that it's okay to have a little fun in life.
Listen to the amazing podcast interview from the CBC radio program Tapestry with host Mary Hines with Dr. Dasher Keltner. www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2011/01/30/survival-of-the-kindest-3/
Dasher Keltner is a professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Co-Director of the Greater Good Science Centre at UC Berkeley. Professor Keltner's studies of human emotion seem to turn the Hobbesian view of human nature - that life is nasty, brutish, and short - on its head. Keltner says we only need to look at emotions such as compassion, awe, and embarrassment, to see that humans are wired to be good. He also suggests that those positive emotions are designed by evolution to ensure the survival of our communities, and of our species. Dacher Keltner's book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, is published by W.W. Norton and Company.
Please listen also to Merry Introverts of the Internet. It's okay to be an introvert! http://www.cbc.ca/spark/category/episodes/
Next on Conscious Energy, I will explore the energy of making the impossible possible.
