I am.
It was decided in the ‘70s when I noticed the title of a Firesign Theatre album: “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus”. It struck me, then and now, as funny plea to forgive myself and those around me.
The “Bus” is life, and the “Bozos” are us and everyone we know.
Bozo The Clown was a children’s book and television character from the 50’s whose orange hair went sideways and up. Online, I’m told the term bozo commonly means “ignorant”.
Are you ignorant? Of course you are, we are all at times. And when I attach the word bozo to my ignorant moments, I’m tempted to laugh and shake them off.
I often take life too seriously. The theme of perfection is part of my family and faith. Irish Catholicism in my day included perfection, that we would be Christ-like. For many of us, that led to feelings of insecurity and, sometimes, shame. Note: If you’d like to go deeper, check out Dr. Brene Brown who is my favorite counsel on the topic.
For me, guilt and shame are a trap! Noticing my own flaws and pointing out others’ ignorant moments intensely serves only to further embarrass the perpetrator.
Our family of 14 (3 kids, 3 partners, 6 grands) is learning to find humor in each of our flaws.
Like her mother, Alice is a magnifying glass. She has an incredible, almost superhuman ability to see every speck of “flyshit in the pepper”. Any molehill can quickly become a mountain.
Me? The controlling, angry guy that I remember being my father? Oh, boy, he’s there inside me waiting to pounce on anyone who isn’t acting the way I expect them to act. Good luck with that!
The point? Lighten up.
This is life, the only one we have. How about abandoning perfection and perhaps even getting a good laugh out of yourself and others.
One of the women I admire most is my brother’s eldest daughter, Colleen. She has dedicated her life to the Dorothy Day Catholic Workers House in Washington, DC.
When Colleen was still in grad school, she sent me a gift. It is a decoupage on wood titled “Jesus Laughing”. That gift remains in my bookcase near my desk to always remind me:
We are all bozos on this bus.
Peace,
Tim McCarthy
