YOLO and Polo

Here is a new (to me) word that rhymes with the old last name of an explorer, traveler, and writer, Marco Polo. Other similarities than rhyming, you might ask? YOLO is an acronym for you only live once, a carpe diem for the current generation. An example: Due tomorrow = Do tomorrow- YOLO. Today the term YOLO continues to evolve and now often appears linked with risky and reckless behaviors prompting some to remind its users that you only die once too.

Marco Polo only lived once also and for 24 years he seized the day as he excelled above all the other travelers of his time in determination, writing, and influence. His adventures traveling, writing, and exploring China, described an exotic new world and culture virtually unknown to westerners at that time. His willingness to venture down the road less traveled, a journey fraught with risks, seems to me to be an ancient take on the modern YOLO.

Then there’s the swimming pool game of Marco Polo. If you don’t know it, the rules are simple. One swimmer closes his eyes and says Marco and the others who are trying to avoid being caught say Polo. The person who is it (calling Marco with eyes closed) uses the voices of the others to figure which way to go to catch the next person who by the way gets to close their eyes next and be it. I found a quote from the original Marco Polo that could have something to do with how the game was named.  

"When a man is riding through this desert by night and for some reason -falling asleep or anything else -he gets separated from his companions and wants to rejoin them, he hears spirit voices talking to him as if they were his companions, sometimes even calling him by name. Often these voices lure him away from the path and he never finds it again.”- Marco Polo

How do I relate this to YOLO, you might ask? Well if you post a reckless idea that ends in YOLO on Face Book I will try to help you find your way back by putting “Marco” in as a comment.