An essay on the article “The Game of Life” by Mark HarrisBhamini Nadarajan10/02/2001In his article, “The Game of Life”, Mark Harris brings into our focus the nationalepidemic of stress, overwork and lack of time for leisure, in today’s fast-paced,technological lives of humans; this is in contrast to “the truth” that “being human” means“living in the moment”, “in harmony”, knowing “how to play”. He leaves the reader withthe

how’s

of capturing being “fully human, fully alive” “with plenty of time to laugh and play”. He does so by illustrating the children’s world – children he says, are “the mastersof play” – and by drawing the story of 60-year-old Joe, “a man who knew how to play”.Mark Harris strikes a chord in the reader with the wisdom of the essence of life, and he presents it in the context of the fast-paced living, which has become the way of life for most people, and of the necessity to recapture “the joy of play” in our lives during this period of “automation revolution” .Although Mark Harris’ description of zooming bikers as only “officially playing” is anexample of the modern life that we live in and experience around us, the fact that weare continually exposed to the knowledge of the ill effects resulting from this lifestyle is,I believe, guiding us to become more conscious of our choices about our lifestyle. Duringthe past decades, humanity did not know the reality of life that the technologicalrevolution was bringing forth. However almost everyday now we are conveyed either by personal experiences or from external sources the reality of the problems of our lives aswell as of our planet. As a result, we have started to make efforts to identify what isimportant and commit our efforts such as in, environmental preservation and cleaning,valuing the time we spend with our children which gives them joy and holisticapproaches to health, to name a few. “The Game of Life” not only reassures us of these

efforts, but it also serves to bring an awareness to those of us who are caught up in therush of modern life and yet do not know it.“We all desire happiness… Because the very purpose of life is to be happy, it isimportant to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness” says theDalai Lama in the foreword to Tara Bennet-Goleman’s “

Emotional Alchemy

” andMark Harris conveys similarly that joy is the nature of our being, whether we work or we play, which we have to rediscover. The joy of life is inherently the same as the joy of play. A child’s world and the world of 60-year old Joe that Mark Harris presents serve asmodels for us to find ourselves in life filled with happiness, that we experience during play. Joe found happiness not by acquiring material development and children do not

work

to find happiness. Yet that is what we have found ourselves doing while we getcaught up in the rush of modern life, so much so that even our play turns into work. Onthe other hand, happiness comes from living in the moment like the children do or byliving in passion and contentment as Joe did.So what do I do to recapture joy in my life? I do not necessarily

play

in the familiar senseof the term. My joy primarily comes from having made a decision to live a lifestyle thatsupports my desire to have inner peace. I find joy in the combined activities that I involvemyself everyday. I even enjoy a good sleep most nights!As a homemaker, I cook almost regularly. Not necessarily my passion though, cookinggives me satisfaction with the gift of health and comfort it brings which I do not benefit by eating out more often. It is also a practice that gives me a sense of preserving some of what my mother has given me and which I can pass to my children, when I have them. I

make some good chai (variation of Indian tea with fresh ginger) and puffed bread (called‘poori’ in South India) among other Indian dishes!A sense of accomplishment comes from using the website, that I have created andmaintain, almost every day. It is a fairly simple site with categorical links to my favoritesites in the web. (The website www.gbweb.netis temporarily shutdown from accessing via the internet due to hacking, which is so common at present, on the hosted hard disk that my husband and I share). Some of the categories I have in my site are book picks,news/media, women, bay area guide, online shopping and holistic living to namesome of them. I also have a section of ‘selections’ from the books that I have read. Idesire to write some good articles some day and post them in gbweb.net.To my delight, I have found that I have a passion, a constant longing, for readingwork of non-fiction. Although reading Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”, years back left within me a deep impression and a sense of quest to often find something more possibly through books, I did not pursue readingas passionately until I came across Caroline Myss’ ‘

Anatomy of the Spirit

’ and GaryZukav’s ‘

The Seat of the Soul

’ a couple of years back, thanks to Oprah’s shows throughwhich I came to know these authors. These two books have led me to engage in a journeyof reading such books that I had never imagined I would read some day! “Keep shovelingaway the dung of the world’s disbelief as you uncover the shards of purpose, peace and pleasure that bring you joy” – Sarah Ban Breathnach in “

Something More

” – and readingis a primary vehicle that helps transport me toward the place of purpose, peace and joy.It is significant that each one of us discover “the truth of living in the moment” if we