We’re all prisoners of our own mythologies

Carlin’s nineteenth and final album, recorded four months before he passed on to the great comedy club in the sky, centered around a simple, circling chorus.

It’s all bullshit folks, and it’s bad for ya. 

That’s the one thing he hoped the audience would walk away with. A little asterisk in the back of their brains. A helpful reminder that most of the world is full of shit. 

Not necessarily dishonest or malicious or dangerous or manipulative, although that certainly exists too. Just full of shit. Stars of their own stories. Prisoners of their own mythologies. Managers of their own agendas. 

Meaning, they are going to do what they’re going to do and say what they’re going to say, as long as it serves their selfish purposes. 

It’s all bullshit folks, and it’s bad for ya. 

Of course, there’s a balance. A fine line between a healthy mistrust of humanity and outright paranoia. Because nobody wants to fear their own species. We’d prefer to think the best of people, to see everyone as good until proven otherwise, as innocent until proven guilty, in the hopes that our faith in humanity will encourage them to reveal their better selves. 

After all, it’s better to be occasionally disappointed than to walk around with our guard up, right? 

But then again, maybe it’s another example of our bottomless capacity to delude ourselves. Maybe it’s part and parcel of cruel hoax dangled before the hungry hearts of the naïve, and those willing to have a myopic view of the world in spite of being kicked in the teeth should see it coming. 

Perhaps the goal, then, isn’t to become cynical, but to remain aggressively skeptical. To keep our sense of doubt well nourished. And to befriend that little asterisk in the back of our brains. 

Otherwise we fail to become free of the defenses that keep us hidden from ourselves. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS… 

What do you see when you see people?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS… 

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

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