Sunday, August 22, 2010

assembly-line amusement

I had a good day today. Sometimes I don't have good days, but today was one of those days where happiness settled me into quietness and laughter.

One thing I found amusing and slightly disturbing, though, is how so many institutionalized places of fun, like fairs and water parks, look so much like giant factories full of colorful assembly-lines and human product. We bob along these neat lines and we enter into the contraption meant to inject fun, and after just three nauseous minutes we are funneled out again and moved to the next machine where we jump dutifully onto the conveyor belt. All the while we keep asking, "Was that it?" We chase soap-bubble entertainment.

Despite the amount of money it takes to get into these special factories the whole atmosphere is cheap - it's cheating humanity of the rich life-joy found in spontaneous moments of everyday bliss, moments that come before pain and carry us through hard times. Moments where we laugh so hard our stomach aches and tears roll down our cheeks, moments where we feel free to twirl, arms outstretched and head thrown back, just because, moments where we sit in stillness with a heart wanting to burst for happiness. These are the happy moments that come not from a manufactured doing but from a spontaneous heartset, a joy-filled being.

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