PaleoJay Podcast #48- Play is Great - Real Work is Even Better!

PaleoJay podcast #48- Play is Great - Real Work is Even Better!

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I have heard SO MUCH in the Paleo Land about the importance of play.

Otherwise, get it on iTunes, within 24 hours...

Duh, I know it’s important to play to be a totally rounded, healthy person- after all, All work and no Play makes Paleo Jay a dull boy, right?  I mean, I get it; in the modern Western (and increasingly entire world), people in general work... far, far too much!

But that’s not what I’m talking about, and you and I both instinctively know it.

Work is not REAL WORK ANYMORE!!!

REAL work is what our Great Grandparents did, every day, as did their grandparents and all our forebears and the endless generations of those who came before!  Actual, physical, arduous, demanding physical work-

Work that demanded you bend your knees, lift things, carry things, throw, cut, slash, and pound!

In modern, 1st world today, almost no one does these things any longer.

They go to the gym, do bench presses and squats, elliptical machines and cross fit work outs... They do kettle bell workouts, and Pilates and such, whatever video is the video-of -the-month on their DVD.

Then, reading the Paleo info about “the importance of Play”, the typical Paleo afficianado runs off to play “Ultimate Frisbee”, shirtless, in their capris, and thinks :

“I’ve done it, dude!  The total Paleo thing- I worked in my IT job, standing up of course-  with my suit, cool tie, and Vibram 5 Fingers all day, and then, I freaking played like a cave-dude with a plastic disc and then went home, put on my orange glasses to fight blue light, and went to bed at, like,  7:45 PM”.

Although this is all very laudable (although, hereabouts, in rural Wisconsin, virtually no one talks like this!), a real, important point has been sadly missed by this urban caveman viewpoint: i.e.-

You Played, but you NEVER DID ACTUALLY WORK!!


Real work is something that can only be done for brief stints of time.  It is accomplishing something, hopefully for yourself or a tribal member, i.e. family or friend that needs to do something physically on their land, or otherwise to help them survive and thrive!

The best form of real work is like what I did last week- after my Neolithic Work, meaning After Agriculture Work, which is what work became after the discovery of agriculture 10,000 years ago, which was “fake work”- work that pleased the ruling classes by bolstering their own positions of kingship, and the ability to accumulate wealth in the form of stored grains. But I digress...

Real, honest-to-God work is working really hard, for maybe an hour or two, for a real purpose, moving,  (logs, rocks, animal carcasses, warfare)-  whatever needs doing, and I mean REALLY needs doing- this is real work.

I had three dropped trees, this past week, next to my house.  My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to... move all the huge logs, branches, and brush somehow back away from the house.

And so, I did.  I didn’t hire it done. I didn’t just let it sit...

I did it!

I came home from my normal, Neolithic job, tired but- uh, not really.  Although I’d worked out ala Perfectly Paleo Exercise each morning, I knew that that was really play.  Now, I needed to get my good friend John Deere, along with his buddy the logging chain, and start into lifting and dragging...

And so I did, night after night!

I won’t say the process was fun, because it really wasn’t, not too much. (Although  I did have music playing as I worked, which was really nice!)

It was hard.  It was arduous.  It was painful, along with many scratches and scrapes, hard lifting (the trailer kept slipping off the trailer ball), and climbing back on the tractor and off...

But, you know what?

It was incredibly satisfying and rewarding!
Now, I am more than ready for some Play time- because I have earned it!

I’ll sing with the choir at church tomorrow- I’ve earned it!

I’ll work out in the basement later, and do some barefoot sprinting- I’ve earned it!

I’ll record this very podcast, and sing a little song at the start and finish because- I’ve earned it!

And then, I’ll watch a video that evening - “Young James Herriot” if you want to know, that I have wanted to see for quite some time, and finally got from inter-library loan in the Wisconsin Library System...

Life is good!

But it is good, and satisfying, because I first did- REAL WORK!


We are meant to perform real work.  If we don’t, we feel Worthless, (subconsciously), and rightfully so.

If you, yourself, are physically capable of doing something, do not hire it done, no matter how much money you have!

This is the road to decadence.  Do some real work- you’ll be glad, no; OVERJOYED that you did!

Time for bed, Paleo-ites!

J

I’m a Paleo Man!

I know you say it’s hard to go thru life eatin- just real foods

But I’m here to say that its just- not true

There’s food aplenty- that’s good to eat

Go for nutrition- not for a treat!

Oh yeah- cause I’m a Paleo man!

There is grass fed meat everywhere, or you can find it- on line

There’s sardines in a can, and they’ll fill you up- just fine

You don’t need fast food- that’s just a crutch

Real foods a-waitin- and that’s more than enough - 

Oh yeah- cause I’m a Paleo man!

Paleo Man!

Break

You say it’s hard- you need to eat bread

And you love pizza- that’s what you said -oh yeah

But I’m a Paleo man! A Paleo Man!

You can make a meatza- it’s not hard

The crust is meat, and you can cook it with lard - 

Just eat those real foods- it’s not that hard

And if you don’t you’ll be full of lard - oh yes you will

I’m a Paleo Man!!  Paleo  man- yeah

Break

Paleo man...