Keep It Up...

When I was young, one of the hundreds of living room games that we played in my family started with everyone standing in a circle facing each other and someone batting a balloon into the air. Someone else batted it, and then another, and another....

With every hit, the balloon echoed with a brief, thin resonant thud, the smallest of all of the timpani, the sound muting quickly, as if the upward direction of the ephemeral sphere didn't allow for a truly resonant thud.

Two, we chanted with each successful bat, Three...Seven....Fourteen, Fifteen,

and by this time, people are shrill, diving everywhere. There have been close calls, dangerous-near-misses, a precarious bounce against the chandelier. Screaming: Get it! Get it! and Keep it UP!

TWENTY! TWENTY ONE!

I didn't understand the sociology of keep it up when my parents introduced the game to us. It seemed fun and enjoyable, but I didn't get how profound the metaphor. How complete the transfer of training would be -- if I could but apply the lessons.

That all the Most Engaging, Most Unified moments of human endeavour were all aimed toward:

Little bats,

floating, air-filled plastic,

Enthusiastic Chanting and Wild Diving all so that we could:

Keep it up!