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
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