A Case for Pleasure in a Monetized World

“Not all the pieces that may be counted counts, and never all the pieces that counts may be counted.” ~William Bruce Cameron

My gardener and I have been speaking the opposite day—his English damaged, my Spanish worse—however we discovered a technique to join.

He instructed me about his eight-year-old son, a vibrant, joyful child who loves baseball. The boy needs to play. His mom needs him in tutoring. And someplace in that hole, a much bigger query emerged: what issues extra—self-discipline or pleasure?

I didn’t plan to provide recommendation, nevertheless it got here out anyway. “Let him play ball,” I mentioned. “Let him be a part of a staff, fall in love with one thing, really feel what it’s like to provide your self to a recreation you care about.” Possibly there’s room for each—tutoring on weekends or part-time. However I couldn’t shake the sensation that too typically, we push youngsters towards what’s helpful earlier than they know what they love.

That dialog stayed with me as a result of it displays one thing larger and extra troubling: nearly all the pieces in life now feels monetized.

From beginning to demise, we’re priced and processed. Being pregnant is a billing code. Daycare is a enterprise. Faculty is debt. Even demise has been streamlined into packages—premium, commonplace, economic system.

Need to speak to a therapist? That’ll value you. Need clear meals? That’s additional. A secure place to stay? Relies on your credit score rating. Even our time with family members feels rationed by work schedules and productiveness apps. There’s a price ticket on presence.

The monetization of all the pieces is extra than simply an financial system—it’s a cultural ambiance. It creeps in quietly, turning artwork into content material, friendships into followers, and values into branding methods. We commerce consideration for promoting, look after comfort. And because the world turns into extra globalized, centralized, and digitized, this mind-set spreads—environment friendly, scalable, and soul-numbing.

However there’s one thing that may’t be priced or faked: circulate.

Move is that immersive state the place effort disappears, time softens, and we’re absolutely absorbed in what we’re doing. It’s the sensation of being utterly alive and centered—not as a result of we’re chasing a reward, however as a result of we’re in tune with the duty itself.

I bear in mind pitching in Little League once I was ten. I wasn’t the very best, however for one temporary inning, all the pieces clicked. I ended considering. The ball moved prefer it was a part of me. I wasn’t making an attempt to impress anybody—I used to be simply there, inside the sport. That was circulate. And I’ve spent a lot of my life chasing that feeling by music, writing, instructing.

I’ve spent most of my life as a trainer, filmmaker, and author. Not as a result of it made me wealthy—it didn’t—however as a result of it gave me one thing to stay for. Now, at seventy, I assist look after my 96-year-old mom, nonetheless making an attempt to complete my life’s work with little to indicate for it within the financial institution. However the work nonetheless issues. So does she.

My mom’s caregivers—principally girls of shade—present up day by day. They assist her eat, gown, and smile. They aren’t paid almost sufficient, however they transfer by their days with compassion, grace, and humor. Their labor doesn’t match right into a tidy spreadsheet of revenue. And but it holds the world collectively.

I’m wondering: What occurs to a society that forgets tips on how to worth the issues that may’t be monetized?

We all know one thing’s unsuitable, however we don’t know what to do. We nonetheless must pay hire, purchase groceries, discover a technique to survive in a system that rewards effectivity over depth, picture over presence. There’s no clear reply. Simply pressure, quiet resistance, and generally—if we’re fortunate—a second of readability.

So I say once more: let the boy play. To not win, or to be the star, however to really feel the enjoyment of operating with others, of belonging to a staff, of laughing, working laborious, and studying—collectively. Let him construct friendships that may final a lifetime. Let him really feel what it means to be a part of one thing bigger than himself, the place enchancment issues greater than trophies.

And perhaps, simply perhaps, let him discover circulate. On the sector, and even in tutoring, if the situations are proper—if the educational is alive and the main focus is actual. As a result of circulate is the objective, whether or not in a recreation or a classroom. That’s the place confidence is born. That’s the place pleasure lives.

After all, I do know Little League may be its personal type of heartbreak. When the sport turns into about dominance, when adults challenge their very own regrets or insecurities onto the boys, when coaches overlook it’s presupposed to be enjoyable—it might harm the very spirit it’s meant to nourish.

That’s why it takes the fitting coach. One who listens. One who is aware of it’s a boy’s world for a short time, and that this recreation, at its finest, teaches tips on how to care, to lose with grace, to attempt once more, and to belief others.

I instructed his father all this in our clumsy mixture of English and Spanish. I instructed him I hoped his son will get to play. Not as a result of it’s going to result in something measurable. However as a result of it already is one thing invaluable.

Generally, the very best factor we will do is willingly open the door—and let the gamers play.