[Kamog]

Yeah, I miss those days when I was a kid...

Some of my happiest moments that I remember were from my elementary school days. I had a couple of good friends. We used to build some our own toys together, out of wood, cardboard, old containers, etc. We played outside a lot, too, climbing trees, running around in the forest, exploring. Growing up in North Vancouver, British Columbia, there were a lot of forests nearby. There still is today, but back then, there was even more. After school, we'd play until it started to get dark, and then we'd go home.

Back then, I didn't worry about my marks at school. I didn't worry about exams or assignments. There were no deadlines, no important projects, no bosses, no customers to deal with, no office politics, no work pressure, no job stress.

Things were not perfect back then. Of course there were problems. I wasn't happy 100% of the time. There were family problems, bullies, and so on. But I didn't worry about those constantly. When we were playing, we were busy playing - not thinking about things that weren't going right. And things usually did work out in the end.

What happened over the years? High school, university, then getting a job, working on a career. More responsibilities, more expectations, and increasingly, our worth is judged by others, on what we produce. Somehow, along the way, something is lost.

Sure, I still do fun things now and then and play games and so on, but it's not the same. It's like, even when I'm playing, somewhere in the back of my mind I'm worrying about something, like the problems at work, money problems, and so on. It's hard to be in the moment.