stevesbets

    What movie popularized the quote of Papa Wallenda above? If you are reading my blog then you most likely recognized it immediately from Rounders, a poker movie from ‘98 that came out ahead of the poker boom and ahead of it’s time.  Many of us watched it over and over again during home games and homework. We could probably recite every line, particularly the one above from memory. Now I’m wondering how many of you really understand what Matt Damon means when he quotes it?

I ask because I watched rounders with a friend about a month ago and I realized that I didnt know what it meant. I decided to swallow my pride, and admit my ridiculous ignorance about a line I’d heard literally hundreds of times and asked my friend, I was shocked that he didn’t know either.

To me this reflects how many of us pass through life. Sure that others have answers we don’t, and often befuddled by how educated everyone around us seems. We put up fronts and act in the know when really we all don’t know much. To me this is the first step to no longer being out of it. Many people  in all walks of life take words that come out of their own mouth as gospel. Especially older people don’t seem to comprehend that simply because their own experiences reflect certain truths does not mean that they can be extended universally. In the end, there’s only one certainty concerning matters that can’t be proven and it’s this: no one should be certain. To be so reflects a lack of insight or interest or something else that I can’t find the word for.

Now that I’m done ranting about that, onto the content of the quote. For those of you who don’t know, it’s speaker, Papa Wallenda was a great tight-rope walker reflecting about the banality of everyday life. To him the only excitement came from this physically intense, life wagering activity. To me this seems to be true for everyone to a point. What makes life new, exciting and worth living for you? For awhile I found life in poker. Excitement over winning and losing sums of money that I didn’t quite feel truly comfortable winning and losing. The idea that a life changing moment was a mouse click away for me whereas almost impossible for many others really got me going.

As with most good things, excitement dries up over time and suddenly this just doesn’t get my juices flowing anymore. So the search begins for my new wire (and I’m really not sure it should ever have been poker to begin with). I think many people don’t mind the “waiting”, they go through life never on the wire, reliant on routine, calm, collected and corpse-like. Hell, they even fear asking what a quote from their favorite movie means.

In the end I don’t know what or where life is for me so I don’t really have any sort of good ending to this blog. I guess I’ll go lie on my couch and watch fresh prince until 4 in the morning like most nights :)

A quick word about comments on my blog. I encourage EVERYONE reading to leave feedback. I will approve anything that is above a 3rd grade level. So basically, anything that is not some sort of pointless insult that will interest no one such as,  “I hate you Steve” I encourage and appreciate. I’ll also try to respond to questions as much as possible.