Games

I might have known.  I have been listening to a few albums of late of someone I had not listened to much before.  Nichole Nordeman.  I have a Spotify playlist and invariably I put on songs of hers I heard in passing.  This morning one was playing and I liked it so I investigated who it was.  Sure enough it was her.
I need to like the tune but the words said “so long status quo.”  I admit I really do like that.  No wonder Thoreau said “most men lead lives of quiet desperation.”  I have found it so easy to settle for the status quo.  To not make waves.  To be invisible in a multitude.
Yet such a thing does not sit well with me.  I am not out to be rich and famous (though I would take it for sure) but I do not want to be a pawn that unknowingly plays the game of others.  I want to be like the kid I have seen that often invents the games others play.
For New Years eve we have people over (all are welcome – if you are not doing anything come along).  We get out what board games we have (and that is plenty) and play them.  Games that others have invented that we play.  Admittedly we celebrate New Year on NSW time.  We do not often support them but in this instance we go with the celebration an hour earlier so we can get to bed earlier.  We are getting old.
For me the game of life is one that demands my attention.  It is not something I want to go through and find out at the end of my days what was it means.  I reckon Dylan was right when he sang “you gotta serve somebody.”  As someone indicated it is a bit of a downer to climb the ladder of success and find the ladder was against the wrong wall.
The game of life seems to be a pretty serious one.  There is so much I do not understand.  Things without and within that force me to look for answers.  Sometimes I find none and can only console myself that there is a big picture and I do not know everything.
But for now it is not big picture stuff.  It is setting up for New Years eve.  Time to mow the lawn.  I have pulled out the games we are going to play.  I still need to put some chairs around tables.