The dominant myth in U.Va. culture, it seems to me, is that everyone is constantly ahead of the next person. Individually, we feel a pressure not only to succeed in every aspect of our lives, but also to be better than those around us. This can even happen with activities we are passionate about, leading us to adopt disdain for things that once brought great fulfillment. Instead of beloved pastimes, our interests become mediums through which we exercise power and control, and ultimately onto which we project our hopes of being the “best” and the “greatest.” In doing so, we become far removed from our natural state of being; we attempt to transcend the natural sense of fluidity and disorder with “success.”
To those buying into this false narrative, to fail is the ultimate loss. This looming fear of failure is a sickness of culture, and must be altered. I think U.Va. is the perfect place to start this movement.
I propose that the solution to our problem is a new sort of mindfulness exercise I have labeled “practicing dumbness.” You — well-read, traveled, and educated reader — might say to yourself, “Me? Be dumb? Not possible!” But let’s not pretend. Do some of that magnificent critical thinking you pride yourself on. Let’s see; remember that time last week you threw away that microwave meal box before reading how long to cook it? Or that time you wore your socks in the shower? And, of course, we can’t forget that time you ran up those stairs on all fours. (You thought no one was watching. We were.)
Okay, you say, maybe I’m not so immune to being dumb. But now you wonder, what do you mean by “practicing dumbness”? Well, dear reader, while it is relatively easy to feel dumb, we rarely tend to advertise our stupidity to others. Instead, we wish to shield our dumb thoughts and actions because we have been taught that they are things of which to be ashamed.
What I call for is the transformation of dumbness into something that is embraced, celebrated even! It sounds extraordinary, but really all this would take is a willingness to accept how dumb we really are. It’s the difference between saying “Oh, nevermind, what I was gonna say was super dumb,” and just going ahead with “I feel like toes are just fingers with big dick energy.”
This does not mean turning dumbness into a competition similar to the one of productivity and success. It simply means embracing our own lack of common sense enough to feel comfortable sharing it with others.
Likewise, it is important to find people who can help us tap into our craft. The best kind of people are those with the ability to make us feel just dumb enough while simultaneously embracing our stupidity. For example, when my sister asked me at a Starbucks drive-thru, “How do you know when to move your car forward?” I didn’t immediately berate her for being utterly clueless about perhaps the single most intuitive process in the world. Instead, I simply stared at her in a mix of amusement and bewilderment, indicating to her that she had said something strange, and thus giving her a chance to reflect. I helped her quickly realize the answer to her own question only by filling the space after her dumb inquiry with silence.
My sister learned two important lessons that day: first, in a drive-thru, the car in front of you moves forward so that you, too, are able to drive up to the window and collect your food. And second, never to ask something that dumb around the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd, to be clear, is people who make us feel inferior when we expose to them our truest, most dumbest selves. (Haha, get it?)
For I believe that when we expose our dumbest selves, we tap into an essential element of human existence. Whereas competition to be the most achieved can lead to stagnation in character, to expose our dumbest selves is to be vulnerable, and to be vulnerable is to allow ourselves to grow.
So, go forth and practice dumbness! The world could use a whole lot more of it right now.
Erin Clancy is a Humor Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com.
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