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Admittedly, there’s not an abundance of downtime at Deep Springs. It’s easy to get caught up in the strong and steady pull of things that need doing around the ranch, for the community, and for class. We are responsible for each other here and it’s hard to find time for oneself. But that’s part of the Deep Springs experience. It is the way things are when you are dedicated to those around you. The trick is making work feel like play and making play count twice.
The type of fun that exists at Deep Springs is qualitatively different than the fun at other places. There’s nothing planned or scheduled here. No club, no theater, no bookstores or coffee shops to hang about. You have to build the fun from scratch, something from nothing. If you want to dance, you build the dance floor, you create the lighting, you pick the music. Several years ago, Mark Dunn wanted soccer, so he welded two full sized soccer nets. If you want art, you have to make art, create an art culture. So the fun feels more a part of us.
cultural events
At Deep Springs, we call dances "boogies" (BOO-jie). The music is usually pretty terrible, the dancing is high energy, and the floor gets sweaty quickly. It’s unclear whether the student body’s preference is hip-hop or techno, but either way, boogies are usually musically broadening.
Music and spoken word performances are called DSPACs (DIS-pác). It’s an acronym that stands for Deep Springs Performing Arts Committee. DSPACs are held once a term and are beautiful and revitalizing evenings.
There is also a lot of movie watching, and a Saturday night movie can mean everything from Ingmar Bergman to Conan the Barbarian.
sports
The prime time for physical activity is just before dinner, when students, just finished with labor, come back to the Main Circle to play soccer or frisbee. Faculty, staff, and the children in the community often get even more juiced than the students for games. Callie Mitchell, 16, our farm manager’s daughter, is one of the finest soccer players at Deep Springs.
recreational academics
If classes aren't enough, students will often start academic projects for their personal enjoyment and edification. Interests range from Jacques Lacan to Real Analysis. Reading groups such as the Levinas/Walter Benjamin group are popular as well.
crafts
The crafts at Deep Springs accentuate what’s different about the downtime here. Students like making things in their free time. If we’re not making fun, we’re making things, and letting fun come from the creating. Abram bakes breads, cookies and cakes. Marc once attempted to build a fertilty goddess using 97 condoms and plaster of Paris, but was foiled by mitgating circumstances.
hanging out
Deep Springers also like conversation. We talk about everything and nothing, wherever and whenever. The most common traps are the boarding house (the vortex), and the rumpus room. Light conversation is split up evenly between topics inside and outside the valley.
hiking
Some think all the time that is not spent working for class, for the ranch, or for the college should be spent tramping around in or walking softly through the desert. The desert is a deep wellspring of beauty and peace, and its old age brings perspective to the incredibly focused life at Deep Springs.
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