A Brief Time Out

By Author: Gregory J. Ballan
Total Articles: 9
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A brief timeout

Ever have the need to simply get off life's merry go round and simply just watch for awhile? No participation, no accountability, just be the invisible specter wandering in and out of other lives and circumstances as only a passive observer. I was at the zoo a few weekends ago with my three year old daughter and wife. We had spent a few quality hours watching all of the animals and taking delight in Christie's reactions to the various sights and sounds around her.

Mrs. Esper took the munchkin on a small carnival ride and I just sat by a large bird cage. It had a twenty foot rock ledge complete with flowing waterfall and three pools all at different levels. There were shelters for the various birds and plenty of food. I sat there and stared at this one bird for almost a solid minute, trying to imagine what it would be like to just simply watch everybody at the zoo from the inside. No worries, no strife and no real problems. If I were that bird I'd just have a few seeds, float around a bit and simply stare back at the weird things peeking back at me. The bird, like all the other creatures ...
... at the zoo, had been taken out of the game. Their life, their instinct for survival, was mute at this point. My mind wandered back to the pair of tigers sleeping in their habitat. Were they happy? If one could actually assign that human emotion to an animal. Animals can feel stress, fear and anger on an instinctive level; but could an animal actually be happy. Were these animals happy taken out of the day to day struggle for survival to simply be pampered and cared for for the rest of their lives. For a hard working human, battered by the day to day barrages and obstacles of life, this would seem like a paradise.

Imagine a life where everything is provided for you, no work, no struggle and no worries, just lounging poolside while a bunch of other people walk by and look at you. Who's the fool? Is it the man in the cage or the man toiling outside the cage? Who's imprisoned? The man behind the material bars or the man chained to the daily inescapable struggle of survival in a society of moral decay and imperfect social platitude. It's a difficult question with pluses and minuses on both sides. On the one side of the equation, your basic needs are provided for and there is no real struggle. Life is bereft of pitfalls but also void of opportunity. You have no responsibility to toil, yet your freedom is curtailed by the steel cage in which you call home. You are out of the game.

The guy looking in on you, like a wild animal in the jungle or on the open plain, is struggling day to day to survive and feed his family and /or just himself. There are countless frustrating occurrences and unforeseen events at every turn. Each day could be a nightmare of misfortunes, simply mundane or altogether orgasmic in nature. The man outside the cage has no real control over life; he's simply one piece, a pawn, on a gigantic chessboard. He has no guarantee of security or stability as he makes his way through each and every day. In his world there is no real security or safety. But, his world is open to travel, and motion. He can move from place to place to seek out new opportunity, the bars that hold him are metaphoric in nature not solid in composition. Every day is a lesson in survival and some days are better than others. There are many that don't make it and, like a captured chess piece, are taken out of the game. Those are the stakes, life and death, the struggle to survive.

Which is better, the gilded cage or the dangerous freedom? That is a question best answered by each individual.

For me, I only want a brief time out from the struggle, just a few days to relax and get my wits back. There are times when the view from the inside of the cage is appealing, but the loss of motion, my freedom, is too great a price for the security. But that's just me, one individual.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

About the Author Science Fiction writer, blogger and wannabe columnist. http://www.xanga.com/Esper_Warrior is the quick link to read some more detailed rants and raves. I am the average middle class working guy just trying to make ends meet like everyone else. I hope you gain something from reading my words.
Thanks for taking the time to read what I've written, I hope you found it worth your while