In which of these two photos do you belong?
I know, I’m always throwing such tough questions at you. ‘Play’ is the most powerful ideal as a life-concept. Play is at once joy and enthusiasm/commitment and intensity. Play is uncompromising in its playfulness. It is severe in its unfeigned simplicity. It is the genuine reflection of our humanity. It allows only for choices that confirm life-affirmation and the evolution of spirit. Play, in fact, IS life-affirmation in action. It is the evidence that we submit to a world-in-chaos that life is and should always be a celebration, and that it must be lived in such a way as to reflect this awareness. So why is it that nobody’s doing it? The world, and America in particular, has been hoodwinked by the lie that you’ve got to follow the cultural model, and in that model, brothers and sisters, there is no such thing as ‘Play.’ All you get is a job you hate, a family you grow to resent, an invisible spouse, and dysfunctional, unhappy children that you will soon loose upon the world. In a word, it's a fucking crock. It's America's promise that you too can be the proud owner of a wasted life. So why do the masses continue to buy into it?
The simple answer is that most people don’t think. They accept the model as it’s presented to them during the course of growing up, and by the time they’re college age, the notion that their adult lives will be anything other than ‘being responsible,’ and ‘getting a good job’ has been completely exorcised from their minds. The idea that life should be a reflection of the concept of ‘play’ is completely absent from their world-view. Play is not a philosophy; it is not a set of principles. It’s the certainty you had about life when you were a child, when the most obvious and simple knowledge you had of the world was that the adults around you were all insane. They still are. What’s important is that you don’t stray from that basic insight. They told you that everything changes when you grow up. They were right. Where they were dead wrong was in teaching you that you’ve got to change too. The truth is the exact opposite. Only by holding on to the spirit of youth does one have a shot at sanity. The rest is all nothing more than degradation and deterioration; conforming to the cultural model and becoming one of the automatons.
Play involves the following:
1. A Rejection of Conformity
2. A Rejection of The Established Order
3. An Insistence upon creating one's own cultural model
4. A Belief in one's own vision, and the Conviction to live it.
It’s also important to point out that Play must never be confused with ‘easy’ or ‘frivolous.’ In fact, it is actually the most difficult of things to accomplish as an adult. The world puts relentless pressure on us to conform, to play the game, in essence, to give up on who we really are and play by the world’s rules. Problem is, people for whom we have no respect whatsoever are the ones that made the world’s rules, people who couldn’t care less about the quality of lives you or I lead. They are also, by and large, people we wouldn’t emulate if they were holding guns to our heads. Consequently, it is among the most difficult of accomplishments to incorporate the concept of Play into your life. The system stands in opposition at every turn. And yet, you must do it if you are to make your time on Earth count. As I said earlier, our discussion has really centered around the ‘how,’ that is, the attitude you must bring to the table regardless of your specific endeavors. The ‘what’ of living a life based in the spirit of Play is the part of life’s mystery that only you can unravel. The key is to be found in your passion. Working your little asses off at something you love is where the spirit of Play is to be found. It’s in living life on your own terms, no matter how hard it is. It’s refusing to bow down to the slavery of our corporate culture in which you are defined by the very level of conformity you achieve! Don’t do it. Keep having fun. Find a way to make it pay your bills. Get up each day and Play. Remember, that doesn’t mean ‘Easy.’ It means you’re where you belong.
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