DNPG – DNC$200: Circular Living

The game of Monopoly is an interesting reflection of our understanding of life.

We seem to see life as a game of sorts. We hope to have more good luck than bad luck and we intend to make money along the way. Apparently, success or victory can be claimed when we have more than others, although such relativism leads to an unwinnable proposition. After all, someone is always richer, smarter, and better-looking. Still, a great number of us live in such a purposeless haze as to chase the illusion of relative success.

To me, the beauty of Monopoly is in the way that the game board is oriented. The square-ishness makes me smile. No matter how much money one earns or how many properties one acquires, he must still continue on that tedious journey. He must continue making his way around the square.

For all intents and purposes, we could round out that square game board into a circle and the effect would be no different. We would be engaged in circular living, the human equivalent of a dog chasing his tail.

Circular living is a disease that plagues most of us most of the time and all of us some of the time. We chase incremental improvements and relative gains. Just once, I would like to see someone land on Park Place or Boardwalk (or even Marvin Gardens or Baltic Ave) and then refuse to take his next turn. I would love to hear someone say, “I think I’ll stay here awhile and just appreciate the view.”

I would like that very much.

Blue: The Depth of Beauty

Ever heard of The Mariana Trench?

The Mariana Trench is this area in the North Pacific Ocean where the ocean floor just sort of opens up - almost the underwater inverse of a mountain. The ocean's deepest point is part of the Trench, the 36,201 foot deep "Challenger Deep". Challenger Deep is so deep that you could take the tallest peak in the world, Mount Everest, turn it upside down, and drop it into the trench...and still have 7,000 feet before you would have filled the trench to the surface.

36,000 feet is unfathomably deep to me. It is seven miles under water. It is the equivalent of a jetliner's cruising altitude - only it's underwater. It is really, really (really) deep.

And somehow, incredibly, there is life that far down in the ocean. The Mariana Trench sustains a healthy population of sole, shrimp, and flounder and Challenger Deep itself hosts at least 432 different types of creautures. Under 36,000 feet of the blackest blue, there is life.

Blue is the persistence of life.

Blue is the depth of creation.