Blasé Day

Ho hum, we have another celebration today. Blasé Day has arrived already, whooptee doo.

Do you ever feel so weary that it’s hard to get a rise out of yourself? Things that used to seem exciting and pleasurable don’t move you anymore. Feeling blasé is the arrogant version of apathy. The thesaurus compares the blasé attitude to “world-weary”.

Blasé Day was invented out of the feeling many of us get ahead of the holiday season. We’re barely through with Halloween and we haven’t yet celebrated Thanksgiving. The hype of Christmas shopping and the barrage of Christmas advertising began weeks ago. As if that isn’t enough, there is the post-Christmas burn-out. There’s barely any more remaining psychic energy to endure the less emphatic holiday of New Years Day. I get tired just thinking about all this agitation.

“By default, most of us have taken the dare to simply survive. Exist. Get through. For the most part, we live numb to life–we’ve grown weary and apathetic and jaded… and wounded.”–writer, Ann Voskamp

I’m guessing that Blasé Day is meant to be an ironic sort of “holiday”. By purposely celebrating the feelings of world-weariness, we parody them. In other words, if we try to imitate feeling blasé we’ll actually feel amused. We might remember the apathetic teens we once were. Do you remember when we put on the pretense of sophistication and faux savoir faire–but we were actually just sullen adolescents? Such memories make me smile today.

“Lonesome. Lonesome. I know what it means. Here all by my lonesome, dreaming empty dreams. Weary. Weary at the close of day, wondering if tomorrow brings me joy or sorrow.”–Leon Redbone

Do blasé feelings stem from self-pity? Too much introspection and self-analysis can certainly bring about a bland outlook on life. There’s a certain disillusionment that goes hand in hand with too much self-focus. Blasé Day, in its parody of the blahs, can remind us of the futility of self-centeredness.

“During my life I have seen, known, and lost too much to be the prey of vain dread; and, as for the hope of immortality, I am as weary of that as I am of gods and kings. For my own sake only I write this; and herein I differ from all other writers, past and to come.”– essayist/novelist, Mika Toimi Waltari

We can face world-weariness more effectively if we deal with it the way we deal with fear. We can face it head on, and not try to escape it. Focus upon and contemplate feeling jaded. This might be part of the idea behind Blasé Day.

When you feel as blasé as you can imagine, I recommend stepping outdoors for awhile. Maybe go for a walk. Today is the day to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger while going about your chores. Really listening to a stranger’s point of view can re-ignite empathy and refresh your own point of view. It’s hard to feel blasé while learning about the life of a stranger.

It might be possible, with a little irony, to say, “Happy Blasé Day”.

Ciao
The Blue Jay of Happiness ponders a thought from singer/songwriter/actress, Rickie Lee Jones. “I get weary of reading about rebirths because we’re all growing all the time and it diminishes the life you’ve lived if you say ‘I’m a new person.'”