life as play
- Tunji Williams
- Sep 1, 2021
- 2 min read
what mystifies me most in life is the magic of varied perception. each moment is an infinitely-sided polygon, rotating with each of its unique sides reflecting a potential frame through which to grasp meaning from the present moment.
with so many ways to see things in play, how can i be so sure to trust my own fleeting perception of the way things are at any point? the whole thought blows my mind, and at once makes me feel less willing to exert my will on the world, and more willing to challenge the various facets of my inherited "realities."
i'm finding myself enchanted by a book i'm currently re-reading, entitled, Finite and Infinite Games, by James P. Carse. i'll spare you the details, but at the heart of the book is the idea that in life one can choose to engage in an endless variety of what Carse describes as "finite games." these "games" are varied in depth, scope and consequence, but unified in that they all have a pre-determined outcome (someone must win), rules (parameters for the contest), and a way to win (or several ways), among other things i'm leaving out. not all recognize the myriad of games in which we all engage each day in our regular modern lives (education, social relationships, politics, religion, nationalism, sports, etc.)
"finite games" and all their accompanying melodrama, can be contrasted with "infinite games," which are games played a level of abstraction beyond all finite games. the only purpose of the infinite game, is to keep the game going. those aware of the infinite game, are able to truly play in their engagement with the various finite games that life has to offer. that's because all that truly matters at the end of the day, is that the infinite game continues.
here's to a life of play!
term of the day: society. here's to engaging (or not) consciously.
song of the day: You Send Me by Sam Cooke. some songs leave it almost all in the negative space for us to find. the more i play it back, the more this feels like one such song.
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