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Johan Leman, 10 July 2022

Eugen Fink, German philosopher, author of “Spiel als Weltsymbol”, once wrote that the hypnotic power of the game among children lies in the fact that children can play with the rules childishly freely.  They feel free. The same applies, to a large extent, to a holiday.  It does not mean that suddenly everything is possible. It means that one can create something according to completely different (and to a certain extent even without) rules, for a defined period of time. Once finished, one moves again to the order of the day. There is normally much less room for such a creation of playful freedom in the ordinary life of work and study.

I was reminded of this when I saw some of our young people cycling to Morocco. Obviously, this is only possible during a holiday period, but it is also clear that they have great freedom in determining the number of kilometres they cover each day, the days they rest, the choice of food and the number of hours they sleep… It gives them a kick. It has a hypnotic power. And yet, as Ali, one of the staff, noted in a newspaper, this will be especially meaningful in later life, once they return from their holiday. “That trip will stay with them for life.” Such a playful creative interpretation of a holiday indeed becomes meaningful above all if it does not remain just a loose fragment, but stands for regeneration and is not a noncommittal hypnosis.

It is the hypnosis of such a holiday, with its own childlike playfulness, that I wish each of you in July and August.

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