365 Days of Jazz Hands - Day 59

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28th, 2013

Rule #1:  Survival.

Jazz Hands is but one facet of the game.  This game, like any other, has lots of rules.  Some rules are meant to be strictly adhered to, some are meant to bend, and some are meant to be broken altogether.  Without rules, the saying goes, there is anarchy.  I disagree completely.

Anarchy is the defiance of establishment.  Establishment is a fancy word for structure and in a structure you must have rules.  Without rules, anarchy can not exist.  No.  It is much more appropriate to say that there is chaos in the absence of rules.  Chaos and anarchy are two very different animals.  While chaos is the complete absence of order, the bending and breaking of rules is the stuff of anarchy.  You must fully understand what is "in" and what is "out" of bounds before you venture off the playing field...a good anarchist must abide by the established rules and be well informed on their purpose before defiance can be managed.  John Joseph Lydon knew a thing or two about music before he became Johnny Rotten and formed a band named the Sex Pistols (it's been a while since our last music reference).

I have learned much about Jazz Hands, the history, current trends, its implementation in popular culture, etc.  I like to think that my deployment is an intentional deviation, a la anarchy, but it is mostly the result of poor execution and/or limited skill level...in other words, chaos.

Although I am not a big advocate of participation awards, there certainly is an acceptable way to lose.  While winning is great, striving to win is more important and the old cliché "it's how you play the game" is exceptionally relevant.  If you have a choice of winning the race outright or stopping to help a fallen opponent cross the finish line and choose the latter, you may not finish first, but you become a hero in the process.  Is this a form of anarchy?  Not necessarily in the Johnny Rotten spirit of anarchy, but there is an argument to be made. 

I don't suspect Jazz Hands will define anyone as a hero, but heroes emerge where you least expect, so you just never know.

Life is a game and sometimes playing the game right means taking a ball to the face...but play the game on your own terms and accept the fact that at some point you will get hit in the face with a baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, soccer ball or hell, let's throw beach ball in there for good measure.

Always play to win, but don't let finishing first stand in the way of victory...and always remember rule #1:  Survival.

Today's Jazz Hands were deployed chaotically.  Day fifty-nine complete.