I did it. Last night I got up on stage and read at Grownups Read Things they Wrote as Kids. I read some poetry I wrote in grade nine about a boy, love, drugs, zits–you name it. Yes, in a narcissistic way, I just want to share it with you because I did something that was a bit outside my comfort zone and I like that.
But, I also want to reflect on the question you might be asking yourself “why (the hell) did I want to read something I wrote in grade 9?”
In fact, I want reflect on why the 11 other people who read last night jumped on stage to read stuff. On a bigger scale, I want to consider why Dan Misener’s project has been so successful that last night was the 10th anniversary of the event.
I think there’s a clue to all of this in Dan’s own description of how the whole thing got started. Apparently he was at his girlfriend’s house for Christmas when the two stumbled on her old diary. They spent the day reading out loud to one another and discovered:
`This is really funny, reading this stuff out loud to each other. I bet other people are in the exact same boat. I bet a lot of other people have this kind of stuff lying around. And wouldn’t it be fun to get together with a bunch of them and do exactly this?’”
When I was searching for the right stuff to read, I didn’t think the poems I selected were funny at all. In fact, I thought they were tragic. When I was listening to other people’s readings, I thought, “theirs are funny, but mine’s not funny.” But, it turns out my poems were funny too. As you watch the video, pay attention to where the laughter erupts. It’s worth noting.
The question around why people like to share stuff like this is not unlike understanding the psychology of using social media platforms like Twitter.
Some pop-psychology writers like those who are published in Psychology Today have theorized that it’s all about our need to connect with community. A community that has become more and more inaccessible since the Industrial Revolution.
Others like David Lewis, a cognitive psychologist in the UK, claim that it’s all about existentialism:
“Using Twitter suggests a level of insecurity whereby, unless people recognize you, you cease to exist. It may stave off insecurity in the short term, but it won’t cure it.”
As I reflect on the experience of sharing something awkward and painful, I’m reminded of some of my more painful Tweets. I can remember the hellish parenting moment I was having when I Tweeted,
“These kids could lead a person to Nicorette.”
The tragedy of my parenting situation only became funny when I said it out loud–mostly to strangers out there in the Twitter-verse.
At their best, narcissistic Tweets aren’t much different than reading grade 9 poetry to an audience of grownups. Twitter provides a reflective distance that allows one to step outside of a given moment and therefore have a different reaction to one’s circumstances. Maybe that’s one reason why Twitter’s so big among the mommy crowd.
After all, as the queen of comedy Carole Burnett once said, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” To that I would add, “Comedy is Tragedy plus Twitter.”
Pingback: “I could have had at least fifteen poops!” | Little Bites with Bigwood