Wednesday, July 1, 2009

How to Think Like a Fool #41: Act Crazily

PRETEND: Act Crazily
Mental illness is a serious health issue that should be taken extremely seriously.

Now that that's out of the way, fools act crazy, not to mock, stereotype, or romanticize mental illness, but to get away with outrageous foolishness. Based on their behavior, fools are often labeled as insane, even when they have perfectly sane reasons for what they do. Once labeled, they don't need to justify their actions—it's very simple to an outsider, they do what they do because they're nuts. Then fools are free to act accordingly.

Some people fear that if they pretend to be looney, their tenuous grip on reality may be relaxed, and they'll go over to a world of lunacy. Even though they most likely have nothing to fear, these people might feel safer by simply acting eccentric, or having an object or piece of clothing to ground them when they imagine themselves slipping away. They might want to move crazily instead of thinking crazy thoughts.

You act crazily to escape self-consciousness, to go outside your comfort-zone, and to come up with ludicrous solutions that work nonetheless. You learn quick ways to bring playful energy into a mad, mad, mad, mad world that claims to be sane.


Think: How will I act crazily today? What can I do in the privacy of my own home that would get me called insane?

Tomorrow: How to Think Like a Fool #42: Fool Others

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