6 May

The Meditation Bench

by Jon Katz
The Meditation Bench

I appreciate the meditation bench out in our woods, especially amidst the tumult of the book tour. Today, we drive to the Chatham, N.Y., library for a 3:30 p.m. talk and Q&A, Maria and Red are coming. A quiet day tomorrow, I think I will spend much of it on this bench, I hope to spend some time in the next few days working on my next book, “Lessons From Bedlam Farm.”

I am still getting messages from people who are troubled, offended and outraged at my having dared to poke some fun at Esther The Wonder Pig, the other day, when I bumped her off the no. 1 spot on an Amazon animal book category. The vast majority of people liked the column, and laughed at it, as I did.

But like so many things on the Internet, the piece has also become something of a minor controversy, one of those one day things that bubble up. The Internet is the home base of the outraged addicts, forever looking for sleights and identifying with victims. I should tell you frankly that you will be disappointed here, because i will not change the way I wrote or think, or apologize for it.

I got a kick out of myself when I said I had this fantasy that she would pop up on the Round House Care brunch table, and even though I said I was kidding, a number of Esther lovers were upset, one suggested I wrote the author to make sure he thought it was funny, another said I was selfish and arrogant for competing with this very beloved pig (she used to be a macro piglet, but is now quite large, I gather, and has changed and saved lives –  you know the story, I have written it myself).

I do fear sometimes we have already become a humorless nation, filled with warring and eternally outraged sensitivities. I will always remember to poke fun, at others and at me, without laughter life is not worth living for me. Some people think I enjoy provoking outrage or controversy, but I don’t ever really seek to do that.

I believe it is my job to get people to think, care, and yes, laugh. In our world, and in our new technologically-enabled universe, everything one says is going to upset or offend someone, this is like background noise to me, like jets flying near an airport. People often say they want to read people who make them think, but the truth is many people hate people who actually make them think.

We cling to our labels and feelings and are no longer use to being challenged or even disagreed with. The challenge for me isn’t to stop writing what I feel and thinking, but retaining the ability to laugh in the age of Facebook and Twitter, where the humorless run wild.

Anyway, more later, off to Chatham. It is a beautiful day and I am glad to be alive.

Email SignupFree Email Signup