The Serious Mirth Society

You may have noticed that The Mirth Manifesto begins with the instruction to raise one foot before commencing its recitation. We are not, in fact, just messing with you. In truth, we would like to assure you we are actually very serious about this stage direction. Taking a solemn vow is often accompanied by a physical gesture—kneeling, for example, or raising a hand, and so we felt it was not only important but very appropriate to include one of our own. (That it sounds quite official and yet also slightly odd at the same time are just added bonuses.)

When it comes to flamingos, there is very little information about why they will often stand or sleep while perched on one leg, though there is some evidence that it’s actually more stable for them. But it’s not like that for humans. Standing on one leg is usually untenable and awkward, unbalanced, and unsteady—which is precisely our point. We wanted to deliberately acknowledge the precariousness of life, how constantly things shift, how close we are all the time to tipping over if we veer too far in one direction or the other.

There is no steadiness to life—it wobbles. And yet, if we acknowledge this wobbliness, if we are willing to sway a bit with things as they shift, we can perhaps take a moment to smile at ourselves, how we stubbornly (and admirably) continue to attempt standing and shifting in the midst of everything wobbling. And more than that, we might even find a way to have a bit of a laugh at the absurdity of things, to relax a bit into the realization that the wobbliness is inevitable, even wobbly by design.

We would also like to point out that, when one is feeling unbalanced and tilting, it is the natural impulse to hold out one’s arms, to reach out for someone or something to help you balance, which is precisely why we are The Serious Mirth Society and not The Serious Mirth Hermits, despite how annoying human behavior can be at any given moment. There was some debate about this, but after much consideration, we concluded that even if we run away from each other from time to time (and often for good reason), we cannot survive the wobbliness alone. We must reach out to each other for balance, so that we can all help each other stand while all wobbling together.

It shouldn’t make sense, to have wobbling together help everyone feel more stable, but it works. And this is why, at the end of the Manifesto, we say, “This is a weird & wonderful world. It IS a laughing matter.” For this is what keeps us together, this sense of camaraderie and support and humor while everything constantly shifts around us. Without these things, we will all inevitably collapse. We are very serious about this, and so, albeit somewhat ironically, the Manifesto ends by asserting, “This is where I put my foot down.” That we must do this together is non-negotiable.

So hold on to someone (or something), lift your foot up, and then put it back down again. It may feel ridiculous, but it makes perfect sense. In truth, I suppose we are messing with you, just a little bit. But very seriously.