Mediocrity

Mediocrity. That shunned state. That foul M-word. The word from which strong professionals shy. Average is passé; perfection reigns.
Yet, in a world that becomes more excellence oriented by the minute, I find myself wondering if some mediocrity isn’t what we need.
Distinction, excellence, merit are all of the greatest essence to a country, an individual, the society. But will they suffice? The excellent, indubitably, has transcendence over the middling, but it gains eminence only when placed in juxtaposition with mediocrity. This seems to me to be reason enough to demand, even expect, mediocrity.
The race to achieve perfection seems to be in keeping with the Darwinian theory of evolution and of the survival of the fittest, but have we ever questioned if it is Man’s place to lower himself to the field of the unintelligent animal? When shall we rise above this to prove that Man is, indeed, Nature’s ultimate creation? We shall need to rise above this quest to achieve wondurous distinction
Have we ever spared a thought for the average, struggling, let us say, artist? He dibbles in his passion. He lives his dream. He is, by no stretch of the word, excellent. But neither is he bad. He is just that, average. He has a thousand cousins. The mediocre writer, doctor, manager---they abound in every field. They throng the world and still they have no role in the great scheme of things today. They are being pushed to the ends of the earth by the great exodus of the eminent.
So where exactly does your average man fit in? In this era of excellence versus. excellence, where does mediocrity belong? We need to find it a place, a position, award it its due recognition, even reverence.
Only so shall we be saved the humiliation of excellence becoming redundant. For if this happens, then where shall we be?