• It seems as though the quest to find the great passions and necessities of the human existence leads only to frustration and conflict in the faceted view of ‘need’ our broad-spread race possesses. From a personal point, however, one submission to the pile of ‘need’ is simple and, it seems, proves to be a great thing to hold dearly in one’s life; the pursuit of Pleasure. Pleasure may be a fleeting thing, coming and going when it will, and that is, indeed, the reason one should accompany the fox spirit, rather than chase behind, as ‘caught’ is something The Playful will not allow himself to become. This journey takes one many places in life, and on many other journeys. But then again—should one mind?

    The spirit Pleasure comes in many ways to many people; for me, personally, He touches my consciousness gently, with fingers delicate as spider webs, a light hearted laugh in His actions. Never wandering too far, the Fox Spirit indulges in my fantasies of not-so-far-off lands, loving how I love, and finding solace in my own enjoyment of life and the creation of art, however simple, and in whatever form it comes.
    For others, it seems, His Playful has different plans; gazing tepidly at paintings of lakes and rivers, of shapes and colours, of people and fruits, with waning interest. The question here seems a simple one; why is it one can find Pleasure here? If He himself seems uninterested with the subject at hand, why does He linger? The truth, it seems, can only be assumed, and this brings many different ideas: He is humouring the populous; He is thinking deeply about existence itself, profoundly wrapped in his thoughts as a break from His playful nature; He is the creator of all that is enjoyed, thus, He enjoys, on an inward, more sophisticated level, the more refined setting in which thought becomes pleasure. The true reason, however, remains hidden behind sparkling black eyes, never to be known by anyone but The Fox himself—and that mystery simply brings more enjoyment.

    The journey with The Fox, however, is never an easy one, despite His constant offerings of pocketed enjoyment, here and there. One must learn to control His actions, on occasion, becoming able to hold the mischief maker back from tampering in situations, simply for the joy of doing so. A delicate relationship must be held with the often childish spirit, where one can tend to find themselves rapidly switching from the role of Best Friend to that of The Parent. Despite the joy He offers, one must realize the consequences, and thus, one must also look forward to the times Pleasure wanders from his partner—that partner being you—leaving one to explore the forest for what one would take it as, while The Fox scampers away, unannounced, to cause trouble elsewhere.

    My life, so far, has been peppered with visits from The Joyful Fox, and I welcome His hand when He wishes to slip it in mine. However, it is a learned thing, that sometimes one must learn to think before one acts, realizing that the Fox Spirit’s intense longing for action, while usually harmless, can tend to pull one away from the path, and off into the brush, where nothing is certain. It is a fine life, however, and I enjoy it, especially now that The Fox has taught me to do so without his ever-devious presence.