The keen observer (haha, as if there are any observers) would realise this blog is an amalgamation of two resolutions (I hate this word by the way) – to read more and to write more this year. In a way, there’s some synergy here: writing allows me to put down insights from the books I’ve read and reading can provide inspiration to help prevent the dreaded writer’s block. So, the next book I’ve picked up is “Play – how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul”.

Play is an interesting term. You would think it’s such a familiar concept that everyone can quickly name activities that constitutes play to them. But honestly, I’m struggling to really pinpoint what these activities are for me.

The book tries to explain play:

Consider what the world would be like without play. It’s not just an absence of games or sports. Life without play is a life without books, without movies, art, music, jokes, dramatic stories. Imagine a world with no flirting, no day-dreaming, no comedy, no irony.

…

PROPERTIES OF PLAY

• Apparently purposeless (done for its own sake)
• Voluntary
• Inherent attraction
• Freedom from time
• Diminished consciousness of self
• Improvisational potential
• Continuation desire

Stuart Brown M.D., Play

At the back of my mind, I can think of many activities I do that potentially could count as “play” – tennis, bouldering, doing revl classes, bitching with friends, watching trashy shows. But I have doubts:

• What if I don’t do said activity well and that diminishes my enjoyment in it?
• What if I let comparison and a spirit of competitiveness sully the sense of enjoyment further?
• What if play requires quite a bit of hard work?
• Play seems to have a social element as well – what if I’m not making friends when doing activities I like? =(

WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE PLAY HAS BECOME SO HARD WHEN YOU ARE AN ADULT?