Play is time spent without purpose. [1] If entertainment is the consumption of fun, play is its production. [2] To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous, or to act as if nothing of consequence will happen. On the contrary, when we are playful with we relate as free persons, and the relationship is open to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence. It is a seriousness that closes itself to consequence; a dread of unpredictable outcomes in open possibility. To be serious is to press for a specified conclusion. To be playful is to allow for the possibility. [3]

Play releases us from the confines of politeness and engenders instantaneous forgiveness. We attach less meaning and tell fewer stories in our minds which gives us the ability to be present to what's happening. It is a state of being where we don't have to take things so personally. [4]

Reflections

"Youth isn't the time for play, it's play that keeps us youthful. [...] We never stopped playing, but we've forgotten we are at play. " ~ Charles Eisenstein, The Ascent of Humanity

"No one can play who is forced to play. It is an invariable principle of all play, finite and infinite, that whoever plays, plays freely. Whoever must play, cannot play." ~ James Carse

"Maturity of man: that means to have regained the seriousness that you had as a child – while playing." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §94

Storyteller Consciousness is play with words to create new worlds experienced
My Storyteller Consciousness is a practice of playing with my own mind
📝Play by Sasha Zeilig
Why It Pays to Play Around, natil.us (shared with us by Ilias Ismanalijev)

Contexts

[1] Play Is More Than Just Fun, Stuart Brown, TED
[2] The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein
[3] Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse
[4] 📝Play by Sasha Zeilig

Contexts

#notecard (See: The Notecard System)
#ascent-of-humanity (See: The Ascent of Humanity)
#finite-and-infinite-games (See: Finite and Infinite Games)
#our-lexicon (See: Our Glossary)