Do Something Earnestly

The world needs it

Read time: ~ 11 minutes

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In American society, we have more than enough irony and cynicism. I mean, it makes sense, look around at what is going on, of course people are going to feel cynical because of *gestures broadly. Its rational to react with irony to anyone making an honest effort at changing a world that, at times, seems beyond saving. But this sense of irony isn’t helping anything and not only is it counterproductive to personal growth but also to the actual improvement of the world. What might help, and what I would personally love to see more of, is good old-fashioned earnest effort.

Talent Over Effort

From my earliest memories, there always seemed to be a premium placed on talent. I had the not uncommon idea that things that were achieved through hard work were somehow less valuable than those achieved through sheer natural ability. I used to downplay the success of my peers who were honestly trying to do something new and inventive because the idea of actually “trying” seemed so unbecoming.

I saw it in baseball practice. The kids who worked the hardest but weren’t on the highest team got laughed at. As if there was something wrong to be striving for improvement instead of trying to be cool. Or succeed because of work ethic instead of in spite of it.

I saw it in my mentality in the classroom as well. There was something that just didn't seem as impressive about the kids who crushed their school work and got great grades because they put in the work outside of school. "Of course, those kids get good grades, look at how hard they try," is something I would tell myself to feel better about falling behind a classmate but in reality, it was just a coping mechanism.

I don’t know if this is uniquely American, unique to my own experience, or if it’s a more general phenomenon but pivoting away from this perspective has been one of the most positive changes I’ve made in recent years. I’ve gone from diminishing the accomplishments of those who work hard to celebrating them. I’ve learned about the fallacy of an “overnight success” and realize now that to do anything worth anything, you have to spend years working in the dark before anyone will start paying attention. In short, I have come to appreciate the virtue of being earnest and actually admitting that you want things to be different and committing to making those changes either in yourself or in the world. I may be alone in this but I suspect that I am not and if that is the case then I want to clearly lay out where I think a change is necessary for our mentality to get beyond this post-modernist cynicism that has infected our collective subconscious.

Irony and Cynicism Aren’t Enough

I’ve read a lot of David Foster Wallace this year and something that he spoke repeatedly about is how toxic the post-modernist irony that has suffused its way into our culture is for American consciousness and how necessary a cultural shift is for our continued growth as a people. It’s a long quote and speaks mostly to the Post-Modernist trend in writing, but I think it applies broadly to where we’re at mentally in this country.

Irony and cynicism were just what the U.S. hypocrisy of the fifties and sixties called for. That’s what made the early postmodernists great artists. The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates. The virtuous always triumph? Ward Cleaver is the prototypical fifties father? "Sure." Sarcasm, parody, absurdism and irony are great ways to strip off stuff’s mask and show the unpleasant reality behind it. The problem is that once the rules of art are debunked, and once the unpleasant realities the irony diagnoses are revealed and diagnosed, "then" what do we do? Irony’s useful for debunking illusions, but most of the illusion-debunking in the U.S. has now been done and redone. Once everybody knows that equality of opportunity is bunk and Mike Brady’s bunk and Just Say No is bunk, now what do we do? All we seem to want to do is keep ridiculing the stuff. Postmodern irony and cynicism’s become an end in itself, a measure of hip sophistication and literary savvy. Few artists dare to try to talk about ways of working toward redeeming what’s wrong, because they’ll look sentimental and naive to all the weary ironists. Irony’s gone from liberating to enslaving. There’s some great essay somewhere that has a line about irony being the song of the prisoner who’s come to love his cage.

Excerpted from: The Strange World of David Lynch: Transcendental Irony from Eraserhead to Mulholland Dr. by David Foster Wallace

Commenting on the overall sentiment of the creative world in the United States is well above my pay grade but I think the message of this quote holds true for most of us in modern America.

There is enough cynical and ironic content (in whichever medium you prefer) to more than expose all of the hypocrisy and flaws of the society that we live in today. Where we stand to gain is in the efforts of those people who are seeking to be earnest and do something authentic to shape the world in the image of their choosing. In other words, to create something that improves existence as opposed to just commenting on where society is falling short.

Being Earnest as a Virtue

There is something beautiful about throwing yourself into something, anything, and really trying at it and accepting the outcome of your efforts seriously and unironically that cannot be matched by commentary or criticism. To get fully and earnestly involved in something to the point where it consumes you is something to be applauded, no matter how naive it may seem on the surface. It is those efforts that we should be celebrating more now than ever.

Now, that I'm older, I see how much of a buffoon I was to make fun of those earnest people. Of course, it is more comforting to assume that anyone who has a shred of success is naturally gifted and is only successful because of genetic advantages. It’s much harder to face the reality that they are good at something because they simply put in the work. It’s scary to think that we could achieve whatever we want if only we tried. It’s a scary thought because it means that we all could be leaving so much on the table if we don't sink our full effort and focus into whatever it is we want to spend our lives building. No, you probably won't be Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk or fill in the blank with your uber-successful entrepreneur or CEO or writer or musician or whatever. But you can carve out a life for yourself if you are willing to invest the time and the effort required to get over that hump.

The world is molded in the shape of those people who are willing to risk looking foolish or failing in the pursuit of their dreams. Getting over that fear of looking like an idiot is something I struggle with for this blog. It’s hard for me to share my true opinions and write something more “serious”. I find it challenging to write earnestly because in the back of my mind there is always this voice that whispers, "What if people think I'm a moron?" I'll even have the thought, "How pretentious am I to think that anyone cares about what I think about anything." That's not an easy mentality to change.

I know this fear of looking dumb is a real issue for me because when I go back even two years to read what I've written on any topic, entire pieces are dripping with irony. And sarcasm. And this kind of wink-wink humor that tells the reader that I know how silly I'm being and that I don't take myself seriously and that neither should they.

This attitude actually inhibits growth and development. It both hinders individual progress on whatever goal you are trying to achieve for yourself and macro-level progress of the world as a whole. I know this has been written in other places by much more eloquent writers but it bothers me to think that I'm watching some of my peers, friends, and coworkers leave any opportunity or passion on the sidelines because they are worried about what they will look like to others.

The cliche holds true, no one is thinking about you. They are all only thinking about themselves. What is ironic is that people spend all of their time worrying about what other people will think of them and therefore assume that other people aren't in their own heads worried about what other people will think of them. It’s both backward and counterproductive. The only thing you should be doing (and I know I’ve written about how much I hate the word “should”, but bear with me) is the thing that makes your heart sing. That thing gets you out of bed in the morning with a pep in your step.

Yes, you have to make money. Yes, you have obligations. But at the end of the day, you have only one life to live (as far as we know), so you might as well spend it doing something that you care enough about to take on seriously. Your passion may not pave the road to "success" as society defines it but as long as you take care of yourself financially then you shouldn’t worry about what society and your network think of you. If you arrive in the coffin and know that you really tried at something, and did your best at it, I feel strongly that you will be a more satisfied and happy person over the long haul.

That's why I write this blog. I'm not sure I’m inspiring anyone but as I write more I'm coming to realize the value in pouring myself into something and actually giving this publication an honest effort. I don't expect to ever make money from this thing and I'm ok with that. I'm happy that I can sit here and say I’m doing my best on every piece I publish and that knowledge is rewarding enough in and of itself.

I'm not the best example of this, there are plenty of my peers who care deeply about a lot of things they do in life but if there was one thing that I would pass on from the people who pushed me to do more on this blog, it would be to pour yourself into something and care whether it succeeds. To put yourself out there in a way that you don't normally and try. That's it. If you try and fail then so be it. But if you don't ever try then you'll live life wondering "what if?" That goes for relationships, that goes for work, that goes for hobbies. That goes for everything. We have plenty of voices in our heads telling us that we are going to look stupid if we do something and no one likes it or if our friends and family think it’s dumb. Screw that. The thing that you care about and want to do is the thing that matters and you are depriving the world of something it desperately needs if you just sit and hide behind this ironic, nihilistic viewpoint of the world that says "Well none of this matters so why bother trying."

Go out and do. Try. Be earnest. See what happens. If it all blows up and people make fun of you then let them. Those aren't people that matter anyway and the rest of us will be cheering you on while we try at our own thing. A huge thank you to anyone who has supported this blog and who told me to write more. A huge shout out to the rest of you who in your trying have inspired me to be and do more. That's what this ride is all about.