On seesaws, swings, and other playful things
Welcome to the beginning of a new blog✌🏼
You may have heard this parable before, “Life is like a seesaw”. It is often an affirmation in a self-help book, a moral to children’s stories, words painted on a psychologist’s wall, a reminder scribbled in a personal journal, or a flimsy promise etched on an Etsy mug. It means many things to many people and its gravitas changes over time.
To me, it’s simply the wondrous ebb and flow of life. The imperfections and whimsy of what it means to be human. It’s also the essence of play and curiosity. Sharing life with a childlike sense of joy whether you’re seeing or sawing.
Just like the seesaw, the swing is beloved for metaphors. We use ‘swing by’ and ‘in full swing’ in conversation to express our interaction with the world. The swing too, is a representation of how life meanders through valleys and peaks, and while we’re on the ride, we’re gripped with raw emotions.
In fact, everything on the playground is a befitting allegory for the wild ride that is life. The playground itself is alive with emotions. A kid afraid of monkey bars, but confronting it anyway. Friends laughing on the merry-go-round. Parents anxious about their children tumbling. Dogs chasing leaves in the wind.
How lively!
But life is also mundane. The many ordinary moments that make up our day are not what we would describe as vivacious. But there is spark even in the commonplace, like a colourful spoon to a child or a new book to an avid reader.
Every playful thing is a metaphor for life. And this new publication is my ode to all of that. As I bear witness to the ebb and flow of life, I will share my musings on its eccentricity and ideas that kindle my curiosity. These may be ordinary moments or extraordinary encounters. That remains to be seen.
This publication will mostly be feeling-based. That’s not to say that I won’t be doing my research or drawing from science. I will most certainly dig deeper into topics that pique my interest. But these essays will be driven by my own experience of the world around me.
So, if any of that sounds like your thing, give ‘On the Seesaw’ a follow. 💜
