Outrageous Recreation

When we think of recreation, certain things come to mind: Bocce ball, cornhole, playgrounds, pool volleyball, camping, pickleball and so on. 

But, what about being angry?  Well … not actually being angry, but being “angry” for the sake of recreation.  There’s a term for this and it’s called Recreational Outrage.

It’s an indulgence of self-induced anger and public venting over such topics as politics, religion, the fact that all the doors in that new neighborhood are yellow, and so on.  Whatever.  Recreational outrage is now a hobby. 

Hey, some people play shuffleboard.

It reminds me of the Monty Python skit with the Argument Clinic:

“Is this the right room for an argument?”

“I’ve told you once.”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have.”

And it goes hilariously on from there. 

Like the Argument Clinic, will we see themed outrage areas in our local parks & recreation facilities or on a playground?  A place to picket, yell, scream, wear incendiary t-shirts, glue our hands to art, and so on?

Speaking of France …

“You weren’t speaking of France.”

“I was.”

“No, you weren’t.”

Anyways, in France complaining is quite normal.  In fact, it’s an appropriate conversation starter.  Complaining is everywhere and you begin to wonder if anyone is actually happy there.  I mean, it can’t be good for your health, could it?

Well, a 2011 study from the University of Texas found that bottling up negative emotions can make people more aggressive and cause health issues, so complaining can have an alleviating effect.

But … there’s a nuance to it all.  The French will complain about many things, such as the weather, bad wine, the government, and of course, tourists.  What they don’t do is complain about their own lives.  According to Emily Monaco of the BBC, they don’t catastrophise and for the most part, don’t really have a goal or resolution in mind.  It’s just complaining.  It’s not a means to an end.

“Bonjour Charles, have you ever seen such dreary weather as this?”

“Not in my four years on this terrible planet.”  They start early, I’m assuming.

Another study at the University of Oklahoma showed that complaining may have a positive impact on connectivity and human engagement and found it a useful tool for bonding, because it feels authentic. 

Let’s go over the rules once more: 1) The sky isn’t falling, so no catastrophic craziness. 2) Steer clear of your own personal lives and maybe others’ as well.  3) Complaining is not a means to an end, so don’t attach it to one.  It’s just complaining for recreational purposes.

Recreational Outrage, on the other hand, sounds like outrage for the sake of outrage, but there’s a dangerous attachment to a belief that expressing outrage is actual action, as if it will change something.  It won’t.  When nothing changes from their efforts (or lack thereof), the outrage gets worse. 

Not good for your health, not good for connecting with other happy humans, and it’s no way to live life. 

I’d rather complain with friends that I missed those last three cornhole shots and seriously, “did they make this wine from raisins!?  It’s so dry!”. 

Now that’s recreation!

Photo by Andre Huner on Unsplash

About the Whole Flower, Bee, Playground, Child, Community Analogy

“A flower is simply a weed with a good marketing budget.” – Rory Sutherland

A weed gets no love, but a colorful flower gets bees.  More bees, more pollination, more flowers.  The landscape is enriched with beautiful weeds; eh … flowers. 

But it’s not just flowers.  These bees will pollinate and fertilize other plants that produce seeds, and the entire habitat continues to grow and thrive, supporting other animals.  Life proliferates harmoniously.    

Without these flowers, there would be no bee activity, and no pollination or fertilization of more than 70 crop species out of 100 that feed around 90% of the world’s population.  No honey either. Our world and lives would become much harsher, bland, and devoid of many things.

Because of these well-marketed weeds, the bees get excited and that communicates joy and excitement to other bees that also visit the flowers and that’s how all of this works.  Everything is positively affected exponentially.

To paraphrase Mr. Sutherland, a playground is a park with a good marketing budget.  It makes the landscape more attractive, just like a flower to the weed.  It’s not that much of a stretch, but the point is that a playground brings more kids, which excites other kids to visit and play. 

This spreads joy, health, social skills, happiness, positivity, fitness, friendships, learned cooperation, risk taking, resiliency, and stress relief.  Yes, children experience and hold more stress than we’d like to admit.

They get better sleep, it strengthens their immune system, and their brains are more prepared for learning.  Beyond the children, there’s the community.  A park with a playground increases property values, which means more property tax and therefore more funding for better maintenance, beautification, and growth and the ecosystem proliferates positively. 

And it’s not just playgrounds in this respect: Shade structures, shelters, site furnishings, outdoor fitness equipment and so on, are like planting flowers, whereas they add something beautiful and useful to the landscape that attracts more “bees”.  More “bees”, more “honey”, more growth and so on.

Let’s plant some flowers. 

When a Playground is the Content and the Context, We All Win

“Picture a flower.  Then … picture a flower in a field or completely by itself.  Or a flower on a gravestone, and then picture that same flower in the barrel of a gun.  The context changes the content and the background of a picture changes the subject.” – Rick Rubin

To continue with Rick Ruben’s thought, when we see a picture of a flower sticking out of the barrel of a gun, some of us will see a message of peace, while others will see the destruction of peace.  In either case, the gun is not the main subject.  It’s about the flower.  But if we see peace, we see that the flower is affecting the gun.  If we see the destruction of peace, we see the gun affecting the flower and what it represents. 

As Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not so much what we look at that matters.  It’s what we see.”

While context and background can affect the perception of the content, how we see it and interpret it, depends on us.  What kind of mood are we in?   Our outlook, philosophy, beliefs, positivity or negativity, optimism or pessimism, political leaning, personal experiences, religion, education, and a thousand other things in real time, considering the infinite number of variables, circumstances, and dynamics of reality.

As adults, we’re experts at convoluting what is.  Children are better at just being.  A playground changes the landscape.  It can be the content as well as the context, but it remains the subject.  When we look at it, children and adults both tend to see the same thing; play. 

Play is liberating and invigorating.  It un-convolutes our brain chatter and let’s us relax and be in the moment.  It’s healthy and rejuvenating.  It allows us to decompress, relax our shoulders, and let joy and positivity in. 

Children are under so much pressure to achieve, level-up, and be better.  All well and good when managed correctly, but if not, that pressure can build and cause distress.  When a playground or just play in general is the background, the subject is elevated.  Let’s help our children elevate themselves.  And we adults should remember to play as well. 

We’re part of the context.

Photo by Andrew Small on Unsplash