Knowing how to play

Playing is essentially the most effective and fun way to learn. We have done it as children thousands of times not with the intention to learn but rather with the mere drive to have fun.

As we grew older, we started neglecting most things that do not bring with it a sense of achievement. We view those things as a "waste of time" and would not engage in activities that we cannot show an outcome against.

We have turned even our leisurely activities into ones of achievements, counting our "gains" or "breaking our records" or "finishing" a marathon and so on. While those activities might very well be good of us, we have sucked the fun out of it by quantifying and measuring it.

There are very few people in my life that I joyfully watch engage in real play. Those are parents that genuinely enjoy playing with their children not because they are trying to be "good parents" but because they want to have fun. Those are people that still find new ways of recreating old things, like having a picnic in the back of an old van. Those are the easy going ones that do not mind having nothing to show for an afternoon spent playing uno, or attempting a painting, or swimming in the sea.

Play is not only fun, it is essential for us to remain engaged in life. Play is about finding innocence and wonder, finding the opportunities of exploration in things that our Ego minds perceive as dull. Play is keeping an open mind and an upbeat attitude about possibilities. Playing is essentially at the heart of inclusion and tolerance.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
George Bernard Shaw

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