Fun

The value of “work” has always been an American obsession. “Growth” and its mythology has increasingly stifled any view of pure fun as good and wholesome.

Examples abound but just a few are: meeting other people has become work at networking, reading or travel must be justified to increase mental perspective, sports are the chore of keeping body in shape for adults, a path to scholarship for the young. Just as “investment” is now convoluted to include any expense, joy itself has now become defined only by its role as work.

Obviously, I’m an adherent of pure enjoyment and fun. It’s the one thing machines and AI cannot take away from us. We have a right _ I would argue a duty _ to appreciate and enjoy the wonders of our existence. Just for being itself, not for what it might accomplish.

I know people still experience joy and have fun. But the increasingly claustrophobic concentration on work, meaning, and purpose is a form of slow death. Like an ancient monk huddled in a cell. The saying used to be “smell the roses”, but now it perhaps should be “leave work out of it.”

Work and ritual are always part of human society. We cannot _ and should not _ ignore their power. But there is also grace in doing nothing but being alive, smiling and being amazed at seeing beauty, and laughing for no reason at all.