Stomping Sandcastles

There is a certain pleasure in building things just to knock them down. I remember participating in these kinds of activities as a child with legos, blocks, sandcastles, you name it. I think that many could view this process as negative, and reinforcing all the wrong ideals, but I would like to argue otherwise. We're taught that building things is good and tearing them down in bad. That may be the case for certain important institutions, like the Constitution, or certain structures, like your house, but even in these cases cracks will eventually start to show, and the choice will need to be made whether to try to preserve, or to start over. Is it worth it to keep re-siding the house and amending the document, or would it be more productive to drown the sandcastle, and use the wet grains to form something new, and improved?

Everything is ephemeral, even us. This assertion may seem depressing, or nihilistic, but it doesn't have to be seen this way. Is the point of life to arrive at some destination? And if so, what is the destination, the grave? I don't think so. The point of life is to live. Simple as that. I shamelessly stole that from Alan Watts, but I think he hit the mark here. Calvin's sand city is ephemeral, destined to be destroyed from its inception. He seems to enjoy building it, despite the fact that he knows in a few minutes the sandbox will look no different from the way it was before. 

Even apart from all the philosophy, the act of giving into chaos and entropy is cathartic, and I think finding the joy in letting the current take you is extremely healthy. Much of what we're taught about adult life is how to fight against entropy, and although the fight in and of itself can be rewarding, I think we have to remember the joy of going with the flow. So go build some sandcastles...and then stomp on them.