9th of June, 2018. Saturday. Yesterday afternoon, I took the opportunity to drive with Bram to Antwerp. There I unloaded my bicycle and eagerly drove to my stressful family. It is impressive again how much tension they can generate between each other without spontaneous combustion! You can say what you want, it is nothing short of impressive.
They are pushing the boundaries of the meaning of what “socially tenable” means, by playing an intimate game of controlled frustration with each other. It is a sophisticated social game in which one attempts to at all times maintain a certain temperature of tension. It is a magical tightrope performance during which they try to keep a certain balance between a temperature too high, and one too low.
Too high, and then the volcano erupts with yelling, cursing and crying. Impressive, but it is a level that they have not completely mastered yet here. Already after a short scene of this kind, the players are exhausted. The game ends until everyone has regained their strength, and is ready for the next round.
Too low, and then too much silence and peace come forth. In such a case the players are at risk of having a chance to look inside themselves, and so to be confronted with their suppressed emotions and inner fear and insecurity. It requires no explanation: such an existential vacuum is best resolved by a new game round, by bringing the temperature back at the desired level.
One of the most crucial rules of the game, is to act as if it is all deadly serious. To act as if it were not a game. Otherwise, things would be embarrassing, and the game would not be half as much fun. The best means of achieving this, is to completely forget it is a game. In this way, one can be fully absorbed into the experience.
As for myself, I have started to broaden my horizon since a few years. On this path, I have also learned other games. This way, my taste in games has also shifted gradually. I began to travel around to various places to get the hang of new game rules and game tactics. And thus today I play games such as ‘Who can enjoy the sun the most?’, ‘Who can be the most fully immersed in the act of making love?’, or for example: ‘Who can accept their feelings the most?’.
I don’t mean to brag, but slowly I am becoming more skilful and I’m no longer beaten by all and sundry.
Sometimes, I still visit home, and then I observe the old game. I have however, lost the knack of many of the old game rules. Every now and then, I still join them for a short game round, but most of the time I no longer feel like playing along. Also, they don’t manage to appreciate my new games yet. Furthermore, I have the annoying tendency to remind them every now and then of the fact that it’s just a game. That is a new perverted game of mine. This certainly isn’t valued, and such unsportsmanlike behaviour is scolded and penalized by the red card.
And thus my visits to the parental home are rather short these days: different taste in games, not much that can be done about it… Still, every now and then one or two of them plays one of my games. Then to me, it’s completely worth it.
They are pushing the boundaries of the meaning of what “socially tenable” means, by playing an intimate game of controlled frustration with each other. It is a sophisticated social game in which one attempts to at all times maintain a certain temperature of tension. It is a magical tightrope performance during which they try to keep a certain balance between a temperature too high, and one too low.
Too high, and then the volcano erupts with yelling, cursing and crying. Impressive, but it is a level that they have not completely mastered yet here. Already after a short scene of this kind, the players are exhausted. The game ends until everyone has regained their strength, and is ready for the next round.
Too low, and then too much silence and peace come forth. In such a case the players are at risk of having a chance to look inside themselves, and so to be confronted with their suppressed emotions and inner fear and insecurity. It requires no explanation: such an existential vacuum is best resolved by a new game round, by bringing the temperature back at the desired level.
One of the most crucial rules of the game, is to act as if it is all deadly serious. To act as if it were not a game. Otherwise, things would be embarrassing, and the game would not be half as much fun. The best means of achieving this, is to completely forget it is a game. In this way, one can be fully absorbed into the experience.
As for myself, I have started to broaden my horizon since a few years. On this path, I have also learned other games. This way, my taste in games has also shifted gradually. I began to travel around to various places to get the hang of new game rules and game tactics. And thus today I play games such as ‘Who can enjoy the sun the most?’, ‘Who can be the most fully immersed in the act of making love?’, or for example: ‘Who can accept their feelings the most?’.
I don’t mean to brag, but slowly I am becoming more skilful and I’m no longer beaten by all and sundry.
Sometimes, I still visit home, and then I observe the old game. I have however, lost the knack of many of the old game rules. Every now and then, I still join them for a short game round, but most of the time I no longer feel like playing along. Also, they don’t manage to appreciate my new games yet. Furthermore, I have the annoying tendency to remind them every now and then of the fact that it’s just a game. That is a new perverted game of mine. This certainly isn’t valued, and such unsportsmanlike behaviour is scolded and penalized by the red card.
And thus my visits to the parental home are rather short these days: different taste in games, not much that can be done about it… Still, every now and then one or two of them plays one of my games. Then to me, it’s completely worth it.