A Case for Pleasure in a Monetized World

“Not every little thing that may be counted counts, and never every little thing that counts may be counted.” ~William Bruce Cameron

My gardener and I have been speaking the opposite day—his English damaged, my Spanish worse—however we discovered a method to join.

He advised me about his eight-year-old son, a brilliant, joyful child who loves baseball. The boy needs to play. His mom needs him in tutoring. And someplace in that hole, a much bigger query emerged: what issues extra—self-discipline or pleasure?

I didn’t plan to present recommendation, but it surely got here out anyway. “Let him play ball,” I mentioned. “Let him be a part of a workforce, fall in love with one thing, really feel what it’s like to present your self to a sport you care about.” Possibly there’s room for each—tutoring on weekends or part-time. However I couldn’t shake the sensation that too typically, we push youngsters towards what’s helpful earlier than they know what they love.

That dialog stayed with me as a result of it displays one thing greater and extra troubling: virtually every little thing in life now feels monetized.

From delivery to dying, we’re priced and processed. Being pregnant is a billing code. Daycare is a enterprise. Faculty is debt. Even dying has been streamlined into packages—premium, normal, economic system.

Need to discuss to a therapist? That’ll value you. Need clear meals? That’s further. A secure place to reside? Is determined by your credit score rating. Even our time with family members feels rationed by work schedules and productiveness apps. There’s a price ticket on presence.

The monetization of every little thing is extra than simply an financial system—it’s a cultural ambiance. It creeps in quietly, turning artwork into content material, friendships into followers, and values into branding methods. We commerce consideration for promoting, look after comfort. And because the world turns into extra globalized, centralized, and digitized, this mind-set spreads—environment friendly, scalable, and soul-numbing.

However there’s one thing that may’t be priced or faked: circulation.

Stream is that immersive state the place effort disappears, time softens, and we’re totally absorbed in what we’re doing. It’s the sensation of being utterly alive and targeted—not as a result of we’re chasing a reward, however as a result of we’re in tune with the duty itself.

I keep in mind pitching in Little League once I was ten. I wasn’t the most effective, however for one transient inning, every little thing clicked. I ended pondering. The ball moved prefer it was a part of me. I wasn’t making an attempt to impress anybody—I used to be simply there, inside the sport. That was circulation. And I’ve spent a lot of my life chasing that feeling via music, writing, educating.

I’ve spent most of my life as a instructor, filmmaker, and author. Not as a result of it made me wealthy—it didn’t—however as a result of it gave me one thing to reside for. Now, at seventy, I assist look after my 96-year-old mom, nonetheless making an attempt to complete my life’s work with little to indicate for it within the financial institution. However the work nonetheless issues. So does she.

My mom’s caregivers—largely girls of colour—present up every single day. They assist her eat, gown, and smile. They aren’t paid practically sufficient, however they transfer via their days with compassion, grace, and humor. Their labor doesn’t match right into a tidy spreadsheet of revenue. And but it holds the world collectively.

I ponder: What occurs to a society that forgets worth the issues that may’t be monetized?

We all know one thing’s unsuitable, however we don’t know what to do. We nonetheless must pay lease, purchase groceries, discover a method to survive in a system that rewards effectivity over depth, picture over presence. There’s no clear reply. Simply pressure, quiet resistance, and typically—if we’re fortunate—a second of readability.

So I say once more: let the boy play. To not win, or to be the star, however to really feel the enjoyment of operating with others, of belonging to a workforce, of laughing, working onerous, and studying—collectively. Let him construct friendships which may final a lifetime. Let him really feel what it means to be a part of one thing bigger than himself, the place enchancment issues greater than trophies.

And possibly, simply possibly, let him discover circulation. On the sphere, and even in tutoring, if the situations are proper—if the training is alive and the main focus is actual. As a result of circulation is the objective, whether or not in a sport or a classroom. That’s the place confidence is born. That’s the place pleasure lives.

After all, I do know Little League may be its personal form of heartbreak. When the sport turns into about dominance, when adults undertaking their very own regrets or insecurities onto the boys, when coaches neglect it’s speculated to be enjoyable—it will possibly injury the very spirit it’s meant to nourish.

That’s why it takes the appropriate coach. One who listens. One who is aware of it’s a boy’s world for a short time, and that this sport, at its greatest, teaches care, to lose with grace, to strive once more, and to belief others.

I advised his father all this in our clumsy mixture of English and Spanish. I advised him I hoped his son will get to play. Not as a result of it’s going to result in something measurable. However as a result of it already is one thing precious.

Typically, the most effective factor we will do is willingly open the door—and let the gamers play.