‘To create a philosophy based on your own behaviour, you should first write a book on your formative experiences, then analyse your actions and thinking processes. Eventually you will pinpoint trends and rules of behaviour and the philosophy will come like enlightenment came to Buddha and Mohammed.’ Those were the words of my Polish cleaner when I tried to show off to her about how many books I’d read.
There is philosophy behind every man, so here are my very own eight steps to ‘Dancing in the Darkness’:
1 Celebrate your mistakes and mourn your achievements.
2 Excel at doing what you’re not good at and make a mess of doing what you’re good at.
3 Look for pleasure in the side effects of disaster and pain in the side effects of triumph.
4 Behave informally in formal situations and formally in informal situations.
5 Display your weaknesses and hide your strengths.
6 Adopt a contrary approach whenever possible and never adopt an agreeable approach unless you absolutely have to.
7 Talk to people nobody talks to and ignore people everybody talks to.
8 Experience joy in difficult situations and sadness in enjoyable situations.