the importance of being earnest

In the past, I was funnier. I think.

I have to qualify this, and all other statements I'm making these days, because my short term memory is shot and I can't provide an accurate account of anything. I researched this and have discovered I can blame chronic fatigue for this and practically everything else going wrong at the moment. Very convenient.

I'm blaming chronic fatigue for my new earnestness as well. I didn't used to be earnest. In fact, in addition to being funny (I think), I also used to be sarcastic, cynical, witty and smart. Now I'm just earnest, which is a heartbreakingly bland state of existence.

But it's given me a lot of insight into why people are earnest: they're just too damn tired to muster the charming self-deprecatory humor, the basic price of entry into postmodern society, and too exhausted to levy self-righteous indignation or snarky witticisms, the sarcastic insulation necessary for surviving in these god-forsaken times.

No, earnest people don't have the energy for all those clever layers that disguise the banality of life, shielding us from cruel realities and providing illusory havens. Instead, we're rooted, feet firmly planted on the ground, feeling things, and doing our level best to make sure everyone else feels it too.

So my plan is to take a nap every day until I feel sarcastic again.