I believe the circuses of our yesteryear have been replaced by tik tok and YouTube and the like. Always something new to grab and redirect our attention. Bright dopamine colors filling our brain. The thrill of chance. What new world will the algorithm drop us into next. The sense of built in community. The unified perplexity and curiosity. The circus used to be one the few places that held all this magic in a glass jar. Now it sits behind a glass screen. And with everything getting more expensive
I believe the circus will die out some. Now instead of dreaming of joining the circus, kids especially, are dreaming of being content creators and streamers. Being a part of the exclusive community who ditch 9-5 norms and live in the virtual circus governed by its own set of rules. A place where you can escape the reality of the next room or room and gloom uncertainty of a wobbly future.
We no longer need to wait all year for the circus to come to town to escape reality. So while I think the circus reference in particular is waning, the concept is not. We are all searching and finding our escapes from reality. Our built in community. Our wayfaring brother and sisters who get us and gladly seek new adventures. That we will always seek. At least until the entire human race has found utopia. Which I think we can all agree is not right around the corner.
Ooooof, what a hot take on this! You're so very right, and the sad thing is, these experiences are so seldomly SHARED. Oh man I never thought of it this way, and now, I can't un-think it.
Mine wasn't the circus but to join a band of passing gypsies. Same idea, just more bohemian. And I suppose I did, in a way, when I hit college and joined the Players, the on campus theater group. Bohemians all around. Setting up shows and tearing them down. The after parties. The greasepaint and fancy costumes ... The 'let's pretend' of my childhood brought to life. Musical theater mostly ... then the Gilbert and Sullivan group after college. And Jacques Brell ... to be someone else living in another world for a couple hours a night [twice on Saturday and Sunday] ...
I also wanted to be proved a princess and taken away from my 'step family'. ... or perhaps raised by wolves ...
Ahhh, this makes so very much sense. I think immediately of "Station Eleven" and the traveling band of performers, the last surviving remnants of culture, of art. I love this.
I kind of have a crush on a clown right now. But he’s a single dad who lives on a mountain overlooking a volcano and I live on a river in the jungle 400kms away so it’s kind of complicated!
Ha! You reminded me that I also had a fascination with joining the circus as a kid. I think the combination of being part of a temporary (for others) magic place that is your forever home (only, ever moving) was a lot of it for me. The circus, for all its impermanence in the world, is a small group of family (that's how I imagined it) - with cool animals and a camraderie all its own. I expected, perhaps, a sense of strong family and belonging that was simultaneously very apart and isolated from the real world (something I was always seeking) and special. I have a vision of myself walking between tents with the knowledge inherent of an insider that this is my place - a familiar knowing of place, no matter where in the world it actually was.
I think the circus has suffered a bit from the same thing a lot of entertainment has suffered from - it has to be bigger and better and different than anything that came before (think Cirque du Soleil). I have nothing against Cirque (I love it, in fact), but it's not quite the circus of our youth. I also don't love fairs as much as I did when I was younger. When I was younger, my parents would leave my sister and me to wander alone, agreeing to meet them in a couple of hours. Those hours were so great - we would ride the rides, play the games, eat all the things that were terrible for us. I remember feeling like we had complete control over those few hours (such a luxury as a kid!). Now, my sense is that the fair is a long day full of things I don't really want to do - and I'm not even sad about that! I'm just kind of relieved not to go. I do like to pass the fair - it looks pretty and full of potential - but I feel the same way that I do about bottles of alcohol and makeup. It looks so pretty and alluring, but I'm so not interested in the actual thing. Although, I will admit that the fair, in addition to looking pretty, does give me a slight bit of nostalgia.
I believe the circuses of our yesteryear have been replaced by tik tok and YouTube and the like. Always something new to grab and redirect our attention. Bright dopamine colors filling our brain. The thrill of chance. What new world will the algorithm drop us into next. The sense of built in community. The unified perplexity and curiosity. The circus used to be one the few places that held all this magic in a glass jar. Now it sits behind a glass screen. And with everything getting more expensive
I believe the circus will die out some. Now instead of dreaming of joining the circus, kids especially, are dreaming of being content creators and streamers. Being a part of the exclusive community who ditch 9-5 norms and live in the virtual circus governed by its own set of rules. A place where you can escape the reality of the next room or room and gloom uncertainty of a wobbly future.
We no longer need to wait all year for the circus to come to town to escape reality. So while I think the circus reference in particular is waning, the concept is not. We are all searching and finding our escapes from reality. Our built in community. Our wayfaring brother and sisters who get us and gladly seek new adventures. That we will always seek. At least until the entire human race has found utopia. Which I think we can all agree is not right around the corner.
Ooooof, what a hot take on this! You're so very right, and the sad thing is, these experiences are so seldomly SHARED. Oh man I never thought of it this way, and now, I can't un-think it.
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken was the dream I played on repeat.
That. Movie. Rocks. And Sarah fullllllly agrees.
Hey, Ringmaster.
I really liked this one.
I think, in some way, we're all runners. Following the light & trying to find a place that feels like Home.
The minute you stop trying & learning & growing? You made a choice. To burn daylight. To stagnate. To stop adapting.
I'm in the middle of a New Normal reset. Putting myself first; being selfish with my time & energy.
The Arthur to my Merlin? He's big on kaizen (daily incremental improvement) & I'm all about kintsugi (fusing the broken bits with gold & shining).
A life of authenticity & growth is not a comfortable one. But, oh my stars. It is worth it.
You hit the nail on the head here, "to stop adapting." I love your reset, and I wish it all the very best.
Lolsob. This reset signed up for another Run For Fred (Hollows fundraiser) this month to restore more sight. Watch this space.
Mine wasn't the circus but to join a band of passing gypsies. Same idea, just more bohemian. And I suppose I did, in a way, when I hit college and joined the Players, the on campus theater group. Bohemians all around. Setting up shows and tearing them down. The after parties. The greasepaint and fancy costumes ... The 'let's pretend' of my childhood brought to life. Musical theater mostly ... then the Gilbert and Sullivan group after college. And Jacques Brell ... to be someone else living in another world for a couple hours a night [twice on Saturday and Sunday] ...
I also wanted to be proved a princess and taken away from my 'step family'. ... or perhaps raised by wolves ...
Ahhh, this makes so very much sense. I think immediately of "Station Eleven" and the traveling band of performers, the last surviving remnants of culture, of art. I love this.
I kind of have a crush on a clown right now. But he’s a single dad who lives on a mountain overlooking a volcano and I live on a river in the jungle 400kms away so it’s kind of complicated!
you live on a river in the jungle? Where? Tell us more! That sounds so beautiful and adventurous!
Also, crushes are fun...enjoy the craziness of it.
Ha! You reminded me that I also had a fascination with joining the circus as a kid. I think the combination of being part of a temporary (for others) magic place that is your forever home (only, ever moving) was a lot of it for me. The circus, for all its impermanence in the world, is a small group of family (that's how I imagined it) - with cool animals and a camraderie all its own. I expected, perhaps, a sense of strong family and belonging that was simultaneously very apart and isolated from the real world (something I was always seeking) and special. I have a vision of myself walking between tents with the knowledge inherent of an insider that this is my place - a familiar knowing of place, no matter where in the world it actually was.
I think the circus has suffered a bit from the same thing a lot of entertainment has suffered from - it has to be bigger and better and different than anything that came before (think Cirque du Soleil). I have nothing against Cirque (I love it, in fact), but it's not quite the circus of our youth. I also don't love fairs as much as I did when I was younger. When I was younger, my parents would leave my sister and me to wander alone, agreeing to meet them in a couple of hours. Those hours were so great - we would ride the rides, play the games, eat all the things that were terrible for us. I remember feeling like we had complete control over those few hours (such a luxury as a kid!). Now, my sense is that the fair is a long day full of things I don't really want to do - and I'm not even sad about that! I'm just kind of relieved not to go. I do like to pass the fair - it looks pretty and full of potential - but I feel the same way that I do about bottles of alcohol and makeup. It looks so pretty and alluring, but I'm so not interested in the actual thing. Although, I will admit that the fair, in addition to looking pretty, does give me a slight bit of nostalgia.