Every so often, I have this weird thought: “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t do any recreational drugs, what fun am I?”
I had that thought this morning during a Facebook discussion on lifting weights, which I do think is fun. Tortuous occasionally, but fun generally. It got me thinking about the nature of recreation.
A lot of recreation involves one of two things – either escaping reality, or intensifying it. Booze and drugs I think are an escapist recreation, though it’s arguable the other way, too. Media consumption, like watching TV or movies or listening to music, is an escapist concept as well.
I think participating in sports takes the other tack. Direct, measured competition is an intensification of reality. For extreme sports where there’s not necessarily competition, but you’re doing it for the adrenaline rush, you’re intensifying fear and anxiety. The fight or flight reaction makes you hypersensitive to your surroundings.
Annie, my daughter, has said that the predominant look on my “gym face” is fear. I’ve told her she’s onto something, particularly when I’m lifting heavy. There’s a certain fear of failure, of not being able to move the mass. There’s also a fear of hurting myself from being on the edge of what I think I can safely lift. It’s part of the adrenaline rush.
So back to fun. Do people fit in certain categories? Are you generally an escapist or an intensifier? I don’t watch TV or movies, and I only listen to music as a background to something else, mainly working out. I lift weights and ride motorcycles for fun, both intensification activities.
What about you?