So I’m on a tear through the Moomin series. The first couple are light hearted and fun, but as you get deeper into the series the books take a darker, more meaningful turn. I read Moominvalley in November which is about several characters that are not wacky or zany but kind of odd, and unsociable with problems in their life. They go to the Moomin house because they have vague recollections of the Moomins being perfect. However when they arrive no one is there. They have to live with each other through the dreary autumn. The book takes twists and turns and is quite thought provoking. One of the characters (Grandpa Grumble) is living in a dream world and is angry when people point out reality. This made me think, is it sometimes okay to be ignorant?
Long ago I dismissed the “Ignorance is bliss” concept. But it seems that Grandpa Grumble, a hundred plus old man actually benefits from forgetting things and living his own reality. He has fun, enjoys his life and views it through his own eyes. To everyone else in the book the body of water in the valley is a river. To him it is a brook. To everyone else “Ancestor” is Grandpa Grumble looking in a mirror. To Grumble “Ancestor” is his best friend. When someone described the river as a river Grumble got very upset. But soon he willed himself to forget all about it.
Obviously there are drawbacks to this. If all of society wandered around calling rivers brooks nothing would ever get done. But to me, Grumbles attitude was almost refreshing. He does what he likes, he remembers what he likes (Maybe this comes with old age). I think the world would be a better (or more interesting for sure) place if people had a bit of fillyjonk (super organized) but also a touch of Grumble, carefree and happy about it.
Great post! Go Grandpa Grumble! I really like your idea of benefiting from forgeting things, but I think you should expand on the idea that if we went around calling rivers brooks we would get nothing done. Where would we be if we began to do such as that? What is wrong with getting nothing done? Would our lives turn for the better or worse?
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