Why we love to play

I’ve thinking about this a lot. life.. it’s basically a giant game. people don’t do stuff straight. there’s always some play, some drama, some weird dance in the middle. whether it’s relationships, chasing stuff, friends, whateve. there’s always this layer of performance people lean on.

and it makes sense. we don’t actually like life raw. raw life is too blunt, too heavy, too bare. so we wrap it with little games. not even on purpose. it’s like a survival reflex. we’re nervous animals pretending we’re more than instincts and fear. so we put rituals on everything–dating, chasing goals, talking to someone, whatever.

The Safety of the Dance

if you do stuff directly, no buffer, no bullshit, it’s exposing. too risky. too honest. we hate being that naked. so the games become protection. we flirt instead of confess. hint instead of ask. posture instead of admit. chase instead of sit. it’s everywhere.

humans get bored. straight lines are boring. we want curves and detours. drama is the seasoning on plain rice. it keeps shit interesting. gives us something to decode, something to chase, something to talk about. even if someone’s just being unnecessarily complicated we like that feeling of “i’m figuring something out”

Learned Theater

life never taught anyone to be direct. most of us grew up around people who weren’t direct. parents, society, teachers.. everyone playing their own games. pretending not to care when they do, pretending they’re strong when scared, pretending they know shit when they don’t. you watch that, you learn that, it becomes normal.

then ego kicks in. the biggest player. ego hates rejection, hates looking weak, hates looking stupid. so instead of saying “i want you” we send signals. instead of saying “i’m not okay” we act weird. instead of saying “i love you” we make tasks and challenges. all theater to protect that fragile thing inside.

and I think eventually all this play becomes culture. a collective agreement to avoid saying the truth directly. people confuse the dance for the point of it.

and i don’t know man.. i don’t like all that. do you?