Meh

Well, we’ve made it past Thanksgiving and Black Friday–two days when we are encouraged to feel and behave in particular ways. On Thanksgiving, we’re expected to gather in family groups and display thankfulness whether or not we feel grateful. On Black Friday, we’re encouraged to spend money en masse like lemmings rushing over the limits of our credit ratings. Now that it’s Saturday, we’ve arrived at Blasé Day.

Today we are allowed, yet not encouraged, to let go of artifice for awhile. If you ever have moments when you long to be passive and do not need to prove anything to anybody, this is the holiday for that. Today, we have permission to relax the frowns and wipe the phony smiles off of our faces. We can feel blasé if we so desire. We have the option to be unenthusiastic today.

Blasé is a word that seems outdated and elitist. Blasé is not being full on indifferent nor feeling jaded. Blasé is a sense of apathy to excitement and pleasure as a result of excess enjoyment and indulgence. One may compare feeling blasé to a mild hangover after a night of moderate alcohol consumption. We might also think of blasé in the category of tourism as a world-weary traveler. However, the blasé state seems to be an affectation more than an authentic mood. Today, we are permitted to feel blasé about feeling blasé.

A few decades ago, one might say he has the “blahs”. In my opinion, blah is a more accurate word to describe that emotional hangover state of mind. The contemporary word that seems to fit the authentic, blah emotional state is, “meh”. Meh takes the edge off of blah and blasé. Just as blasé implies indifference to common exciting events, meh is that feeling, minus the real or affected superficiality of appearing blasé. Meh is honest and real.

To feel meh does not require a prerequisite of sophistication, worldly wisdom, an inclination towards materialism. Meh means authentically not being impressed–feeling so-so. Meh, expresses a mild disappointment with something, especially something that has been overly hyped.

In an effort not to overly hype Blasé Day, I’m only mentioning the unofficial holiday so you can choose to recognize it, ignore it, feel indifferent about it, or just feel meh about it.

Ciao

The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes Belgian writer, Raoul Vaneigem. “Daydreaming subverts the world.”