Dear Reader:
Occasionally, in my travels, I come across a piece of correspondence from a colleague (a friend, in this case) so wise and precent that I seek to share it with you all. Such is the case here.
I remain:
Hugo
Emperor
Apartment 29 D1
Dear Miss:
You have spent a great deal of time recently asking about the meaning of life. No doubt this is due to your study of philosophy at the present. Indeed, life’s mysteries and meaning are a constant source of thought and contemplation.
You asked me about this recently, and though I wish not to surprise you—catch you unawares, as it may be—I nonetheless confess to having little problem answering this question. Perhaps, as is often the case of my kind, answers to life’s riddles are often right there in front of us.
Having said that, I offer three words that have been, for me, a guiding principle that gives my life meaning to the point at which I deem it the meaning of life itself:
Strike the pose.
Life, my darling, is too short to fade into the background. It is necessary, instead, to be in front of life, and do so with style and grace. Every person has a mental camera, and when they take a mental picture, it must be a keeper.
Striking the pose is not simply an ethos that applies to the visual aspects of one’s being. It is necessary, always, to look one’s best in the very personality they embrace. To strike the pose is to put one’s self before the world, and proudly proclaim “this is who I am; and if it is not to your liking, the problem, it would seem, is with the observer, and not the observed.”
To strike the pose is to cherish yourself, and present your being as a gift to the world. Perhaps, for those who choose to present an aesthetic as unique as the one you embody, this is not always to their liking. No matter; to those who appreciate you—those who “get you,” as I believe they say in the current vernacular—striking the pose means being yourself, and therefore presenting yourself as the gift that those worthwhile eagerly seek to appreciate.
Again, there is no doubt that along life’s travels, you will find those who do not appreciate the pose that you strike. This can often have the insidious effect of making a person doubt their own pose, and believe that the pose that they strike must conform to the dictates of the person who seeks to impose their own aesthetic standard on you. When such people impose such a standard and deem you worthy only if you conform to such a standard, it is a good sign that the fault lies not in your being, but in their blindness.
I fully appreciate the fact that there are many more complicated philosophies that pursue life’s mysteries to far greater depths. In no way do I seek to criticize such a belief. At the same time, however, I do offer the observation that often, the grace of simplicity is an overlooked source of aesthetic beauty.
So it is, in my humble opinion, with my ethos. It is simple, and even if, as Albert Camus says, life has no meaning, there is meaning in the three words that have been, for my life, a beacon, a trail mark of principle that has guided my life, making it fulfilling and rewarding. In short, I am who I am, and what I am is fabulous; the same applies to you, and your friends.
In conclusion, there is a world out there. I know that the world is a better place for my being in it, and I eagerly encourage you and and your friends to remember that as well. And when you make your way in the world, always remember to put your best self forward, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Strike the pose.
Sincerely,
Holly
Minister of Aesthetics and Pulchritude
10 Berry Street, #1113
Occasionally, in my travels, I come across a piece of correspondence from a colleague (a friend, in this case) so wise and precent that I seek to share it with you all. Such is the case here.
I remain:
Hugo
Emperor
Apartment 29 D1
Dear Miss:
You have spent a great deal of time recently asking about the meaning of life. No doubt this is due to your study of philosophy at the present. Indeed, life’s mysteries and meaning are a constant source of thought and contemplation.
You asked me about this recently, and though I wish not to surprise you—catch you unawares, as it may be—I nonetheless confess to having little problem answering this question. Perhaps, as is often the case of my kind, answers to life’s riddles are often right there in front of us.
Having said that, I offer three words that have been, for me, a guiding principle that gives my life meaning to the point at which I deem it the meaning of life itself:
Strike the pose.
Life, my darling, is too short to fade into the background. It is necessary, instead, to be in front of life, and do so with style and grace. Every person has a mental camera, and when they take a mental picture, it must be a keeper.
Striking the pose is not simply an ethos that applies to the visual aspects of one’s being. It is necessary, always, to look one’s best in the very personality they embrace. To strike the pose is to put one’s self before the world, and proudly proclaim “this is who I am; and if it is not to your liking, the problem, it would seem, is with the observer, and not the observed.”
To strike the pose is to cherish yourself, and present your being as a gift to the world. Perhaps, for those who choose to present an aesthetic as unique as the one you embody, this is not always to their liking. No matter; to those who appreciate you—those who “get you,” as I believe they say in the current vernacular—striking the pose means being yourself, and therefore presenting yourself as the gift that those worthwhile eagerly seek to appreciate.
Again, there is no doubt that along life’s travels, you will find those who do not appreciate the pose that you strike. This can often have the insidious effect of making a person doubt their own pose, and believe that the pose that they strike must conform to the dictates of the person who seeks to impose their own aesthetic standard on you. When such people impose such a standard and deem you worthy only if you conform to such a standard, it is a good sign that the fault lies not in your being, but in their blindness.
I fully appreciate the fact that there are many more complicated philosophies that pursue life’s mysteries to far greater depths. In no way do I seek to criticize such a belief. At the same time, however, I do offer the observation that often, the grace of simplicity is an overlooked source of aesthetic beauty.
So it is, in my humble opinion, with my ethos. It is simple, and even if, as Albert Camus says, life has no meaning, there is meaning in the three words that have been, for my life, a beacon, a trail mark of principle that has guided my life, making it fulfilling and rewarding. In short, I am who I am, and what I am is fabulous; the same applies to you, and your friends.
In conclusion, there is a world out there. I know that the world is a better place for my being in it, and I eagerly encourage you and and your friends to remember that as well. And when you make your way in the world, always remember to put your best self forward, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Strike the pose.
Sincerely,
Holly
Minister of Aesthetics and Pulchritude
10 Berry Street, #1113