Stages
Work hard: Triangle-person is working hard at a computer, with the screen showing “buy” and “sell”, and a pie-chart. The clock shows 7:23pm, and the person is holding a coffee.
Play hard: Triangle-person is having a dance under a mirror ball, holding a fancy drink.
Crash hard: Triangle-person is shown lying on a mattress dizzy, holding their head.
Get spiritual: Triangle-person is sitting in a meditation posture, saying “Omm”.
Medicate: Triangle-person is shown swallowing a couple of pills from a bottle.
Become a well-rounded human being: Triangle-person is shown standing upright, looking perfectly fine with a beaming smile.
In the anglosphere, there is a saying “Work hard, play hard”. I think it’s like the classic fairy-tale ending of “and they lived happily ever after” - it only tells one side of the story and then cuts off abruptly before any consequences kick in.
This is simplistic because I think humans are made out of long-term consequences. Even early in life, our accumulated experiences outweigh the present moment.
I think “work hard, play hard” is not very helpful, and is unhealthy as a life philosophy, so I decided to expand the saying to include the missing bits.