Pat "The Logo" Burns - Seattle Gym
American Athlete of the Month: July 2009
"HOMO LUDENS" MAN/WOMAN THE PLAYER
Patrick Burns has been a member of Anderson's Nautilus - American Athlete for 30 years. So what makes him keep coming to the gym on a regular basis all these years (besides his lifetime membership of course)?
Those in my generation may remember as a kid we used to run and play for hours at a time, not even stopping to eat unless a parent made it clear we had to stop and rest or eat something or it got dark outside. Those were the days! We would burn so many calories we couldn't eat enough to put on weight, even a pound or two. Those were the days before computers, electronic games, and the myriad of other distractions that keep generations from the past three decades entertained.
Play and exercise were as much a part of our lives as eating, breathing, and sleeping. We could contrive so many variations of game playing from tag, to hide-and-seek to kick-the-can with different sets of rules and boundaries made up on the spot it would make your head spin. We, of course, then graduated to the organized sports of the day, i.e. baseball, basketball, football. Then our "play" became more "serious" and single gender status for team sports was the norm.
So what does his have to do with our American Athlete Gym, you say?! Well, I'm getting to that. In my late 20s I studied for a Masters Degree in "The Sociology of Play, Sport and Leisure in our Society." Driven by an intense desire to know and understand this seemingly innate sense and desire to "play" within me, whether it was the spontaneous sort or the more organized "win-lose" variety. In the course of my studies I was introduced to the seminal work of Johan Huizinga, "Homo Ludens" which literally translates as "Man, the player." Here is an excerpt:
‘Play is older than culture, for culture, however inadequately defined, always presupposes human society, and animals have not waited for men/women to teach them their playing..."
According to Huizinga, all culture, whether it be literature, art, science, music etc stems from this innate quality that we all possess, our ability and desire to "play" to reach beyond our constraints, the ancient version of the "Agon Motif," if you will.
The American Athlete provides us with a gathering place to keep our minds, bodies, spirits "tuned" to and open to our innate ability to play, whether that's on our soccer team, rolling around wrestling with our children/grandchildren, or spouse on the grass, living room rug, or ahem, the boudouir.
It can be a social gathering place as well, as I have whiled away many an hour chatting about politics, sports, literature etc. I usually plan my day around my exercise here at the gym whether it be earl morning, 6am, or later in the day (as the years accumulate, I have more energy in the morning).
So the American Athlete is a central part of my life (and my lovely wife Theresa's as well, who recently joined). It has a special ambiance that is fostered by the staff and also by the many members who have all called it "their gym" for many years! Yeah for American Athlete!
Added on 07/01/2009
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