Underrated List Item 2: Being Absurd.

My father has been called eccentric, artistic, too honest, idealistic, incapable (my mother’s contribution), and very funny. Growing up with him was thrilling and frustrating.

Money was meaningless to him; much to the great vexation of my mother who paid the bills. An engineer, he constructed and fixed things with metal. For payment, he accepted anything that his clients showed up with: broken stereos, old TV’s and cars, a bag of crabs, baked cakes, cooking utensils…

Translation: Your payment pleases me. Lets reconvene to continue further consulations at a licensed beverage facility.

Being his child was an adventure more than anything. We camped on weekends and holidays, at unusual places of course. We went fossicking, and he knew geology well enough to know where gold or precious gems could be found. Alternatively, we would pack the boat with supplies and leave without a plan.

My father believed that absurdity had a rightful place next to equally important values, such as integrity, simplicity or wisdom. See the next article for a 10 things list of absurd wisdom that I learned from him. But keeping to the spirit of my father, this 10 things list has… who cares!

His absurdity is precious. Like a virtuoso who doesn’t quite fit in with normal existence, I have always felt protective of him, lest I too have to join reality.

Life is already so serious and filled with gravity, as Isaac Newton qualified; I conclude that my contribution is not required.

Absurdity is a virtue to grab hold of and never ever let go.