Choosing the game of Life
I’ve been standing here, watching the political ropes twirl, like preparing to jump into a game of double dutch. Remember that, moving with the rhythm of the slap-slap-slap before flying into the middle and hopping like a maniac, hoping to jump over the jump ropes and not on them? Or maybe getting all tangled up, stopping the game, laughing, trying again.
I do love a good game.
Finding my softball team has been such a surprise, to throw harder and run better than I ever did before (my hitting is getting there, ok?). It’s been so fun to work hard together to win!...or to console ourselves after our losses, carefully examining how to do better next time.
Winning or losing an election has similar overtones. The triumphant ones walk around with their chests out, savoring their victory, claiming their spoils. The losers slump down in defeat, finding solace in each other, or in the hope of winning the next round. When the competitive spirit really takes over, each side might indulge in the sport of trash-talking and jeering the opposition, applying the time-honored tradition of shaming to try to pull power from the other side.
If only what was on the line was a plastic trophy, not the well-being of millions, and the survival of our planet.
I've spent decades studying how power plays out in relationships. I am very clear about what brings forward life and thriving and possibility, and what runs our energy, love, connection into the ground. Reactive Brain will have us believe that it’s better to stay in a threat response all the time, that we should believe its lies about which humans are good, which are bad; who deserves dignity and who should be mocked and shunned.
Reactive Brain is a tyrant.
How about a new game? It’s the one Creative Brain conjures up every time a heart opens, or kindness is shared, every time someone chooses to treat another with respect or compassion. There are endless variations of this game, from belly-laughing together to singing and dancing to the ultimate fun: finding innovative ways where everyone can get everything they want.
This game doesn’t have the thrill that the adrenaline of competition provides,
and it might be harder to bet on (though there’s a new thought–anyone want to gamble on how humanity moves through this challenge?).
What it does offer is endless waves of love; infinite energy; deep connection to all that is; and so, so much more.
Rather than the death-focus of who can hoard more wealth, who can be the most “right” at the expense of all the rest of those who are clearly wrong, it directs each of us to what we’re really here for: to live.
I loved reading this and felt like it was written for me. I was reminded of Alan watts and his talks of the game of life and how we can either go on in the thought that we MUST survive and life can become a real grind, or we can be fully engaged with what we are doing at any moment, with whatever is arising, and instead of seeing it as work, as something we have to do, seeing it as play.
The shift is so fundamental because I've lived so much of my life caught in the former mindset, in what you refer to her as the reactive brain. And the best and most liberated times in my life were the few times I could shift into the creative brain and life became so fun and exciting. Thank you for your gentle reminder in a time where it is difficult to maintain the rediscovered part of me that can access that due to so many external circumstances that my reactive mind can so easily latch onto.