eThoughts : Let’s Misbehave

Not to dampen the misbehaving enthusiasts, but this misbehaving idea is nothing new. It’s been around for millennia and it doesn’t appear to have helped much either. In fact, it is clear there are cases in which misbehaving has run us off a cliff, if that is possible in Purgatorio (well, there is Inferno). So this is not about misbehaving as a better approach to being correct (whatever that is), it’s that both the call for strictures and the call for getting loose seem to carry the same overall dangers—and maybe benefits. It’s all just stuff. I suspect that learning to be fluid and able to travel through is a key (or for life to travel through us without our latching mechanisms going crazy), but that’s sunshine for another muse.

Bad way to start a call for misbehaving? Hey, bad is good here, eh, so get over it.

Let’s eat and drink something we shouldn’t—and in amounts we shouldn’t. Proper misbehaving doesn’t mean we get all drunk and bloated, it means we indulge ourselves on occasion. And I’ll offer that we do not indulge in guilt about it—that’s not proper misbehaving, it’s a misbehaving buzz-kill. After all, we are talking here about allowing ourselves some pleasure that doesn’t require waiting until another life.

Let’s dance as a way to misbehave. Let’s dance real deliberate. Let’s let our bodies be instruments. Let’s dance alone, let’s dance together. I love it—feeling better already. I mean the word “dance” has so many connotations what’s not to love? Feel that mischievous grin coming on? And no dancing being worried about how it looks—that ain’t misbehaving? Dancing means letting go while getting into what moves us. Lovely combo.

Let’s try to see each other—I mean really see. There’s some stuff to see in each of us. If we don’t like what we see, no lingering—be kind, don’t grind. Go with what we like and if it’s not shared, it’s not shared—no off-with-their-heads command.

For instance, is there anything like looking into a woman’s eyes (insert your own favorite gender in this context) and seeing mischief, and noticing she is seeing the same in you? Hold on to the handrails, it’s misbehaving time. Not married, married? So what? If you’re not married, seeing doesn’t mean you have to get married. And if you are married and it’s truly marriage, it can withstand some real seeing. Think about it—if it’s truly marriage, it only gets stronger. If it isn’t truly marriage, and most are not, then the rules to protect one’s self are the prime directive. There are a lot of those rules to keep the chance of being married alive, though all those rules tend to kill those chances off. So off with the straitjacket all ready. Truly seeing another is about respect. There’s a difference between the kind of misbehaving I’m talking about and trying to manipulate someone for personal gain at another’s expense. I’m talking misbehaving that feels good all around. What’s in the way of that? A lot of people’s ideas about being cocooned—a kind of pathological exclusivity. You can do it if you want, but such a stance is not for proper misbehaving.

Feeling disgusted? Well knock yourself out—just don’t go foisting your grind around here. Or you could just move on to the sunshine up that rear aperture.

Get the idea? There are rules, including the rule to break the rules. Guilt and punishment are the wrong currency in this venue. I’m talking shedding some uncomfortable skin if one has enough moxie to recognize just how uncomfortable we are in our skin. Besides, there’s no rule forcing one to misbehave. One can remain emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually mummified if one so desires, but that’s just another kind of misbehaving for sure, albeit without much joy.

I like this joyful misbehaving. I feel a need to taste. I feel a dance coming on. I feel some seeing afoot. I’m going off into today with that look. No worries if I run across you—if it isn’t mutual, it isn’t on.