'Play' Articles
We are a reason to play. When we were children we woke with a desire to play. We wanted our day to happen. Do we still feel that way?
Play is permission to do. When we play as kids, we get or give ourselves permission to do things, if only in our imaginations. We stop playing well as our brains grow up. No one can change our game but ourselves, and how many are bored or lost? The question in life is not “What is my purpose?”. That questions just makes us look really silly. The biggest question in life is “Are we having fun yet?”.
Do we have time in this life to play? We don’t have time in this life for anything but play. I promise you, you don’t.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato (Ancient Greek Philosopher He was the world’s most influential philosopher. 428 BC-348 BC)
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce
“Play has been man’s most useful preoccupation.” Frank Caplan
Attitudes About Play
Today, we talk about play. People seem to have a lot of attitudes about play. One is to see it as frivolous. Another sees it as refuge from a “reality” they don’t like. For some their play is even work. What are your attitudes about play, friends? I see play as a vital form of regeneration like sleep or nourishment. We need more of it, but I find people kind of sneer at it when I share. I think I play too much. Interferes with the seriousness of some of my friends. I don’t take ‘issues’ too seriously, which confuses… Seek More
Smiles And Laughter
I was asked to smile all the time, and I couldn’t figure out why. Then I finally notice that I have a natural frowning mouth. I am often told I look bored and upset even when I’m not. I seem to be scowling normally also. To know if I’m smiling you have to listen to my words, and I speak freely and play at will. “You know it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile?” “You know that it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?” Bill Hicks. I like… Seek More
Is It Serious?
Let’s look at these serious situations. Seriousness, hmm. What use is that idea? I do these talks because I am completely willing to be foolish. Is nature serious? Is a hunting wolf serious? I suspect not. I suspect it is just hungry. What would happen if it were serious about hunting? He would need a strategy and plan drafted up and likely never get around to the hunt. Yes. He wouldn’t just go sink its teeth into that rabbit, which works just fine for them most of the time. I remember catching a purse-snatcher once. It was definitely a hunt.… Seek More
Time For Play
I once wept at a friends funeral. It was a first for me. He was a dear friend. Had helped me find a place in humanity. Helped me get off the streets. When he was killed by the train I wept, because he had spent a life “trying” and he had been so hopeful. Human ignorance had taken his life, thus why he was stuck on the train track that day. He died before he hit the ground. The impact had literally “knocked his socks off”. I had an odd breakout / breakthrough / breakdown at work the other day.… Seek More
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Can anyone tell me what they do in life that isn’t play? I’d say sleep, but dreams are play. So scratch that, the “little death” is play. Cleaning? Cleaning is play too. It’s “Let’s pretend this isn’t dirty after I spend a lot of energy making it look like it’s not.” Cleaning to my standard is play. Cleaning to another’s standard is not. I was going to say obligations, but we choose to have them. My animals will clean themselves, but won’t lift a paw to pick up after themselves. Does a house cat ask what its purpose is? The… Seek More
It’s A Game
The topic is play. Plato has a saying and I’ll paraphrase. He said you can learn more about a person from an hour of play than a year of conversation. What do you think of this friends? Yeahhh, get me in a game of monopoly and you’ll find out! Part of why play is like that is it’s a “Game”, so it’s implied permission to do whatever you will. This is why we get such strange behaviour at times in the virtual world of Second Life. They go with the idea it’s a game, and well, they are right. Where… Seek More
Stories Of Life
Who doesn’t have stories? Who does something that isn’t play? I think we are stories. We are stories and we are more. We are the shapers of stories. Problem is, we have some serious issues, like we believe things are serious. Play is permission to do. When we play as kids, we get or give ourselves permission to do things, if only in our imaginations. We stop playing well as our brains grow up. No one can change our game but ourselves, and how many are bored or lost? Play seems always about learning. It is always about learning, and… Seek More
The Game Board
In Taoism, they speak of the way that cannot be named. Friends, we all started from the same space on the game board, but we forgot what we were playing and why. Lose one turn? Regrettably we lose many turns in life, because we have to be “serious”. How many broken dreams do people live with? How many sad “might have been” stories can you hear on any day if you ask for them? Are we having fun yet? Who isn’t free? Don’t know why, but I’m chuckling all along. Then you understand fully. Can we do this again next week?… Seek More
What Is A Game?
The topic is games. First a question for you. What is a game? If you ask a hundred people what is a game, you will get a hundred different answers. Yes. That is true, and that raises an excellent point. A game is a structured element of thought and activity, among other things, and are often very personal. A game keeps you on the edge of your ability and gives you feedback for improvement. Indeed. Research has suggested that mental illness can set in from a lack of challenge in life. When playing one, the game appears to go away… Seek More
Real Life Addicts
There is an addictive quality to games to get that next achievement. People experience that in real life with promotions, new possessions, etc. Most people are “real life” addicts. There is a large movement now with some very significant findings behind it toward using virtual simulations to train people in flexible thinking and to control anxiety. Simulation being mostly the virtual world of Second Life right now. Many aspects of real life go unseen and remain abstract in real life experience, and are screened out or expressed in an overt way in Second Life. It is my primary reason for a… Seek More
