“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it”
— C.S. Lewis

Finding Simba with Purple Pants Man.

I recently went to the circus. It was fun and weird all at the same time. One moment that stuck with me was the lion and tiger show. I love lions and tigers. Just watch this if you question my affection.

What the circus showed me was sad. Somewhere along the way these lions forgot the important advice of Mufassa. The tigers and lions were accepting orders from a ring master in sparkling purple pants. No one should ever have to take orders from a man in purple pants. I quickly found myself rooting for the inner simba to wake up and maul purple pants man’s face off. Instead the lions and tigers went about their tricks which included patiently waiting and moving from one stool to another stool occasionally they would jump over one another to the amazement of few.

This reminded me of a C.S Lewis quote about people:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

What C.S. Lewis is saying here is we forget who we are. We become far to easily pleased and suddenly our life exists primarily around moving from one trick to another all aimed at amazement and wonder from an audience.

We settle for less than we were meant to live for.

What bothered me was the lion was meant for much more than a life filled with orders from purple pants man. He was an apex predator that had seen his life hit rock bottom. There is nothing more rock bottom than taking orders from a man in sequenced purple pants.

We as humans are the same way.

Meant to serve a larger purpose.

We often forget this and settle for momentary things that offer instant pleasure and affirmation but yet shield us from what and who we are meant to be.