SOCIETY MEANING SERIES: Life is not a competition but taking part.
A great example what I am trying to get across here can be seen in this annual "Go-Cart Run" held in a little town in Norway called Tønsberg ( pronounced Turnseberg ). I was invited to attend the event because a nephew of mine was a pupil there and was going to support his friend who was one of the pupils taking part in the run. As a British person who had recently emigrated to Norway, my nephew´s parents thought I would find it interesting. I agreed and so I took along my mobile phone to use as a camera. Once there the first thing I noticed was that it was called a "run" rather than a "race". The second thing that got my attention was that there was no wonner and thus no loser either. Being a British person this was somewhat new as, over the last couple of decades, British culture had gradually become more competitive, especially with the onset of talent programs such as Pop Idol and X-factor etc. As the event went underway I began to realize that there was no sense of "who will win" but more a sense of "let´s all praise the effort that has gone into making the carts and those taking part are equal heroes". After a while and some filming. I found myself being caught up in the whole atmosphere of event. For I felt by just being there, clapping, cheering, and filming, my presence was somehow adding to the whole collective energy, which foes without saying was a positive sensation. For the first time in my life I found myself cheering every go-cart team rather than my own personal favorite. Indeed, in fact my entire thought process of how I would have previously looked at such an event had now altered. Previously I admit would have been somewhat judgemental. First I would have chosen a favorite as the team I want to win and possibly even mocked some of the go-carts that I deemed/judged as "rubbish" or "lacked creativity". But instead I now found myself seeing the different merits of each go-cart and the love and effort that lay behind the making of them. And then when I saw the joy on the faces of the children driving the carts my heart was filled with joy every time a cart went past me. I began to understand that, without a winner or a loser, there could be no ground for jealousy to rear its ugly head and no sense of disapointment at the end of the day. Not for the pupils taking part and neither for the audience. The entire event created the ground for an open and shared experience of positive togetherness. For the first time in my life I began to question the idea of "competitiveness" in society. For when the focus is placed too much upon competition it can gradually erode the bonds of togetherness in society until a milder version of a psychopathic lifestyle is reached to that of 1930s Nazi Germany, albeit a lesser degree. This annual tradition of a Go-cart race encourages interaction on many levels. The family build the cart together, which often takes many weeks as well as friends and neighbors getting involved in the project. The school of course arranges the event and the local council gives money towards funding it. The motivation and purpose of the entire event is based upon bringing the community together. After experiencing this wonderful day, I began to see that the world around me had placed much emphasis put on competition and making money. Promoting the idea of putting profit over people to become top of the steeple. For years now I have heared people complaining about the deterioration of the once caring society and asking how we can we ever get it back? To those I would say that perhaps part of the answer lies here in this little yearly go-cart race in a small town in Norway. This is why I decided to put together this short 6 minute film. For now I believe that in order to build a caring society in which we all feel part of, we should work towards creating a lifestyle based on taking part rather than winning. Norway appears to understand this wisdom which is probably why it is one of the healthiest and most content population in the world. My grandmother once told me that life is not a competition because in the end you would only discover that the race was only with yourself. I hope you enjoy the film.
