An impossible plank in Salar, Bolivia
I first learned about planking when I read in the Australian news about the guy who planked on the back of a police car. I was rather thrilled to read this planking story, as I felt that it far more deserved front page headlines over celebrity gossip. It’s nice to hear about real people doing real things, like planking.
Because I lived in Australia and New Zealand for six years I feel a close connection to the absurdity that people over there come up with. Like A.J. Hackett, the New Zealander who developed bungy jumping. Who would have thought you could get people to tie a rubber band around their feet and dive head first off a bridge, and give you money for the opportunity to do it!
I’ve got to admit, planking has got me excited. It is such a stupid thing to do but it has some sort of pull to it. It has got my creative juices flowing as I walk around looking for the perfect place to plank.
What has made planking a success as a new craze is that it is simple, harmless, and easy enough that almost anyone can perform a basic plank. All you need to do is lay down straight as a board facing downward. Than the sky is the limit as to where you may plank.
Planking was started by a few guys just having fun taking some silly photos. Facebook allowed for it to go viral very quickly. There is something compelling us to go planking in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, or on the steps of the capitol building in Washington.
For the meantime, planking is legal, although now with the death of one Australian planker, some are pushing for planking laws. The Australian planker died a couple days ago when he tried to plank on a balcony railing seven stories high. Sadly, he ended up planking on the ground. Perhaps in his memory they should bury him face-down so he could be doing the first underground-coffin plank!
Last night I planked on my mattress and felt like I was connecting to the millions of people who were out there doing the same. It got me thinking. Perhaps what we all crave is a way to connect with others? So we come up with things like flash mobs, flash freezes, and now planking. We feel good when we connect with others and even if it is by doing something as stupid as planking, we still feel part of a community.
I think with time people will come up with more things like planking because we are searching for ways to connect. We in our western world no longer live in tribal communities and have become more and more disconnected from each other. Many have never spoken to their neighbors other than a courteous ‘hello’ or ‘good morning.’ And now we spend more and more time alone on our computers, when we are at home or in the office. We go about listening to our own music with headphones when we take public transport, and we are even doing our shopping online.
Sometimes I see people walking down the street listening to their headphones and I want to stop and ask them, “Hey, are you participating in the world?”
Planking reawakens our desire to participate in the world and it makes us feel good to connect with others even if it is doing something as simple as planking. Perhaps what we need now is for people to create more global bonding experiences that we can use to achieve good.
One of the all time great planking masters who now lives in the Philipines
A Beautiful story I wrote about Planking
Planking on an upside down bus
