Today is Mardi Gras, the last day of Carnival, the season of celebration before Lent, a period of reflection, penance, and self-denial. Mardi Gras has come to be associated with excess, even debauchery – the hangover before we come to our senses and allow our more mature faculties to regain their composure.
We humans tend to rock back and forth between extremes, the source of so many of our problems. We have desires, passions, as the classic writers described them. We thirst for power, pleasure, sensation, exhilaration. This sometimes leads to hurting ourselves or others, and we feel regret. And so traditions arose that allowed us to enjoy our passions and show our remorse.
At their worst, the extremes express themselves as hedonism and shame, but these are thin caricatures that teach us little. Beneath them are the human capacities for joy and sacrifice, which are the aspects of our nature that Mardi Gras and Lent represent to me. We are here to enjoy and share the pleasures that life on the material plane can offer. And we also must understand the value of sacrifice and restraint, which show us that to hoard our pleasures hastens their decay, and leaves less for someone else.
Joy and pleasure do not need to degrade into greed and addiction. Reflection and self-discipline do not need to carry shame. I choose to trust that Life is big enough to hold our worries and meet our needs.
Happy Mardi Gras. May we all learn to carry joy and sacrifice in proper measure throughout the year.
Photo by Llanydd Lloyd on Unsplash