Life As It Should Be

Sorry this post is almost a week late. I’ve been thinking about how best to share these thoughts and I’ve finally settled on using examples from one of my favorite musicals: Man of La Mancha.

In this monologue, the character Miguel de Cervantes is exhorted to open his eyes to the reality around him. He responds beautifully with: “when life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? To surrender dreams -- this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all -- to see life as it is and not as it should be.”

In the play, Cervantes impersonates the retired country gentleman, Alonso Quijana, who “lays down the melancholy burden of sanity” to become the famous knight, Don Quixote de La Mancha. All of this reminds me of Thomas Merton and his concept of the true and false self that Sr. Cheryl presented during the alumni portion of our mid-year retreat. Throughout the play, Don Quixote is mocked for his fantasies, while Cervantes is likewise mocked for telling this “absurd” story. Both are constantly exhorted to wake up and see the reality around them as they stubbornly cling to their idealistic dreams.

The irony is that while society thinks Don Quixote is crazy, his fantasies reveal great truth. For example, on his adventures he encounters Aldonza, a kitchen girl and a prostitute. Yet when Don Quixote lays eyes on her, he “sees heaven” in her and calls her his lady, Dulcinea. It is later revealed that Dulcinea is a good person living a harsh life. In this way, Don Quixote sees and brings out her true self, while the false self of Aldonza eventually fades away.

These stories also call to mind the article For Some with Autism, Jobs to Match Their Talents, which is about a Danish firm that specializes in hiring people with high-functioning autism, and contracts them out to work for other companies. The awesome part is that the company plays to the strengths of their workforce, like their “talent for intense focus and concentration, an ability to recognize patterns, spot minute deviances and recall details, and a perseverance for repetitive tasks.” By doing this, these employees are actually paid a premium for their services, rather than working in a “charitable” position created by the employer.

This article hints at the profound truth of Merton and Cervantes because there aren’t many positions in the world that utilize the gifts of those with high-functioning autism. This company sees the world not as it is, but as it should be; a world where the unique gifts of their workforce are recognized as strategically important for society. Thorkil Sonne, the man who started the firm, says: “a weed is a beautiful plant in an unwanted place.” “An herb is the same plant where it is wanted. Who decides if something is a weed or an herb? Society does.” Sonne imagines a world where society believes in and accepts that everyone can contribute and that everyone is needed. Or, as Catholics would put it, that we are all necessary parts of the Body of Christ. We are all needed in some way to accomplish God’s mission of love and that to do our part, we must become the true selves God created us to be.

I know this is all very pie in the sky, impractical, idealistic and naive. But so what? I think the world has enough cynics and skeptics; enough voices calling for practicality and incremental progress. What the world needs is more dreamers; more Don Quixote’s willing to dream the impossible dreams, right the unrightable wrongs and reach the unreachable stars.

Oh, and if you’ve never seen it, find a copy of the movie version of Man of La Mancha and watch it.

~J.P.