Thursday, January 15, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1978, Gloria Gaynor wrote words that live in infamy. \u201cLong as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive. I’ve got my life to live, and all my love to give, and I will survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No wonder this song is still not only relevant, but popular. Most of us think of survival in a very different context, however. Our hyper focus on material, our fixation on \u201chard work,\u201d and the feeling of essentiality and insecurity have cultivated humans that feel the only reason we are here is to survive, as in “survival mode.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One could also say knowing how to play, how to love, and knowing how to enjoy are keys to survival. Slaving, routine drudgery, and no time for spontaneity kills the zing of aliveness, making \u201csurvival mode\u201d sting even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You aren\u2019t truly<\/em> living until you don\u2019t know where your next paycheck is coming from, in a literal sense. How a situation will work out, in a clear schematic for tomorrow. How a big dream will come to pass. Or how your next meal will appear in your face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isn\u2019t that cutting it close – not knowing where your next paycheck is going to materialize? There is no close call. There\u2019s no \u201cjust under the wire.\u201d There\u2019s no fear in not knowing. Because truly no-one knows. Am I going to survive? Who knows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know I have all my love to give. I know I\u2019ll stay alive. I thrive in this sense of not knowing. I will find great aliveness in letting go of trying to outsmart myself. Not knowing might be the only way to truly <\/em>survive. It releases the sting of \u201csurvival mode\u201d and introduces you to aliveness, liberation from the crap of running the world. If you\u2019re in misery, you\u2019re in \u201csurvival mode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does life really need you to work this hard? <\/p>\n\n\n\n