Miserabilia

A title that’s been hanging on a sticky for some time now… but I was waiting for the right time for it. You know, until I felt it. What is miserabilia? It is a law that governs human kind. The law of misery. See, people always strive for happiness. Why? Because they’re miserable. Do you know anybody who is REALLY, really, happy? I don’t think so. I keep having this fear that when I grow up I’ll be this miserable old man… but the truth is, 1) I’m miserable anyway and 2) I’ll always be miserable. So why be afraid? Should just accept it as a natural fact about life. Like death, there is pain, there is misery, and there is nothing you can do about it. Or is there? Why are we miserable? The list is long and infinite… where do I start?

Top20 Miserabilia
1. We are alone
2. We are alone in the universe
3. We are generally useless, meaningless.
4. We die
5. We grow old
6. We have minimum effect over our environment
7. We are dependent on our environment to survive
8. We get sick
9. We get mad
10. We get depressed
11. We don’t know anything
12. We are fucked up
13. We are dependent on others
14. We are lost
15. We kill each other
16. We hurt each other
17. Nobody understands us
18. We don’t know what we are doing
19. We are human
20. We are stupid

You may replace the ‘we are’ with ‘I am’ for more emphasis where applicable. So there you go. Can’t get any clearer than that. I don’t believe that there is anybody out there that won’t agree with at least 15 of these. In case there is a happy bunny reading this, then just go to points 15&16 and think.

Miserabilia Awareness
Religion does not apply and cannot influence the Miserabilia (MB) law. MBs run through the cortex of humanity, influencing us subtly but immensely. Humans with increased awareness of MB, may turn to narcotics, alcohol or sedatives. Others go mad and others go very very cynic. Some a combination of the above. Humans with lower awareness of MB, may experience delusions and erratic behaviour, saying bollocks like “life is beautiful” or “enjoy life” etc., whilst some are borderline wavering between the two.

Despite awareness level or not, MB affects man-kind throughout. And its existence is due to that something that we lack. Let’s try a fun inversion of the top 20 list and see what we miss: unity, universal unity, purpose, eternal life, youth, power, strength, immunity, clarity, happiness, knowledge, tranquillity, emotional strength, love, compassion, understanding, guidance, perfection, intelligence. Sounds about right, my impromptu list was good after all.

Taking control of misery
Need I say more? It’s obvious how miserable we are. Is it the need of wanting what one doesn’t have that leads us to misery? Well of course – we need more, we expect more of ourselves, from others etc, and that’s how we grow, thriving on misery. It helps us move on and on, trying to avoid it but never losing it. Miserabilia is about a moving process, a perpetuating one without ending – whereas concepts like wisdom, love, knowledge, tranquillity, all have a fatalistic/utopian outlook. Miserabilia is the driving force behind our every move. We use its power to avoid it – which is a conflicting action. If one faces one’s miserabilium, one will be granted insight into a new order of things. One will realise the inner purpose of miserabilia, and one will learn to work with it to succeed. Miserabilia doesn’t cease to be a force, an energy source, one that is with us a lot. So instead of engulfing yourself in it, use it, externalise it – and you will be granted undoubtedly new powers. Obviously one must become truly aware of the miserabilia factor in one’s life to be able to manipulate it.