Play the Game

In the 'Legend of Bagger Vance', Bagger says the game can't be won, the game is only to be played. Those words took me inside myself so deeply that everything stopped. What a concept. I'd never considered not working for the win. But if you take the win out of the game all that's left is the pure joy of playing. I'm a very competitive person so the concept is difficult for me, but I truly believe it's necessary in order to focus on the art and not the sale. I use that phrase as an affirmation to remind myself that I still have a game to play. A game that I can get better at and a game that never ends until I do. The other phrase that comes to mind in times of questioning is, "There is only love and fear." Like most I tend to notice and react to the fear more than I recognize the love, but I'm working on it. This is the year I have committed to moving forward in my art career. I understand now that I can't win the game, but I can give it everything I've got. Dealing with the only options that I have of love or fear breaks it down to a simplier, more compact playing field. It's just nice to know there are so many other deserving participants out there playing the game with me.