Reflections 12th September

Children's Games. Breughel.

On my mind this week.

That sometimes, maybe far too often, we get so absorbed in the business of life that we lose sight of the joy of experiencing it. 

I was reminded of this as, with friends, we watched an eighteen-year-old with precious little experience laugh her way to a very temporary victory in a slightly ridiculous and insignificant game. This morning, no doubt, the media will analyse the achievement in terms of how much money she will earn. Turning a game into a business, where sponsors, managers and coaches fret from point to point, strikes me as so ridiculous as to be laughable.

Play is much more important than that.

"The eternal gulf between being and idea can only be bridged by the rainbow of imagination."

Johan Huizinga. Homo Ludens.

Right now, in the infinite game of life, humanity is a set down and in a tie break to see whether or not we can make it through to the next round. And, unfortunately, our hubris lets us think that if we don't make it, so…