The Serious Business of Playfulness
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Let's play! Seriously, let us play! Life isn't a game but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be playful. After all, there's a lot more to playfulness than fun and games. Creativity, freedom, friendship… What are we without a sense of play?
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The Serious Business of Playfulness
- 1. Playfulness.in/People Credit: Wilfredor
- 2. Playfulness.in/Nature Credit: Adam.J.W.C.
- 3. Playfulness.in/Childhood Credit: Miika Silfverberg
- 4. Playfulness.in/Groups Credit: Yana Harmila Haron
- 5. Playfulness.in/Ritual Credit: R Católico
- 6. Playfulness.in/Humanity Credit: Heurtelions
- 7. Playfulness.in/ Credit: Edmund S. Valtman Seriousness
- 8. Playfulness.in/Power Credit: DannyRamadan
- 9. Playfulness.in/Love Credit: Derek Cabellon
- 10. Playfulness.in/Humour Credit: Jennifer Leigh
- 11. Playfulness.in/ Credit: David Shankbone Performance
- 12. Playfulness.in/Rehearsal Credit: Yoko Honma
- 13. Playfulness.in/Beta Credit: Benutzer:Connum
- 14. Playfulness.in/Failure Credit: Scott Kveton
- 15. Playfulness.in/Spectacle Credit: Rico Shen
- 16. Playfulness.in/Action Credit: Ahmed Rabea
- 17. Playfulness.in/ Credit: michael höfner Improvisation
- 18. Playfulness.in/Freedom Credit: Stephen
- 19. Playfulness.in/Life Credit: SingleHop, Inc.
- 20. Playfulness.in/Sum Credit: Robert Wright
Editor's Notes
- Some of us like to play\nIn fact, there are people who feel like they were born to play\nBut playfulness isn't exclusive and it's not just about playahs\n
- As we keep saying in social sciences, playing is the natural thing to do.\nY'know, young animals try out their roles through play so\nThere isn't anything strange about playfulness\n
- Of course, human children play as well and\nwe tend to associate playfulness with kids.\nSome playfulness is lost as we grow older but, basically, we keep on playing\n
- The thing about playing, though, is that\nit's usually more fun to do with others.\nSure, we may be introverts, but\nwe still want to connect with fellow human beings.\n
- And there are contexts for deep connection through play.\nTo mess up with Weber's "Protestant Work Ethic," I'd say that\nThere's such a thing as a "Catholic Play Ethic."\n
- But it goes much further than that.\nAs an anthropologist, I'd say that\nPlayfulness is such an important part of culture that\nIt almost defines what we are as a species\n
- A major insight about play, from Huizinga, is that\nWhile seriousness may be a lack of playfulness\nIt doesn't follow that play would be a lack of seriousness\n
- Playfulness is more than fun and games.\nSome of what we play out is very serious indeed.\nPolitics, death, religion.\nIt'd be easy to be dark about it all.\n
- There are times when we just want to fool around\nBut playfulness is more than instant gratification \nIt's not selfish hedonism, Mr. Cheney\n
- Oh, sure, I may be\nPlaying with you\nTeasing you\nPulling your leg\nBut it's not about me or about my pleasure, y'know\nIt's about us\n
- Performers are responsible for evaluation by audiences\nAs sociologists say, we play out our roles\nLike Sammy Davis Jr., as soon as we're out, we're on, baby, we're on!\n
- But there's something about playfulness which is just the opposite of performance\nIt's easier to be playful when we're not being judged\nIn a way, playfulness is preparation for performance\n
- But, y'know\nPlayfulness isn't a work in progress\nSome iterative process\nA "release early, release often" kind of thing\nIt's more like a "steady flow of creativity"\n
- Obviously, a lot can go awfully wrong when we're being playful.\nThe idea, though, is that we don't let that get us down\nThe show must go on, man!\n
- 'cuz life, sex, and art aren't spectator sports\nAfter all, They're much more fun to do than to watch\nI sure hope there aren't voyeurs in this room…\n
- To be really playful, you need to get your hands dirty\nAs we say in French, you don't gain anything if you don't try anything\n
- Being playful, we learn to think on our feet\nTo take (civil) liberties with established rules\nTo challenge structures in place\n
- In turn, theres something truly liberating about playfulness\n"unleashing creativity" isn't about letting an animal out of us\nIt's about letting us out of our chains\n
- I really don't think of life as a game\nSure, there are those who keep scores\nBut we all end up at the same point\nWhether it's through dysentery or old age\n
- There's a lot to be gained\nIf we think of life\nOutside the zero-sum game\nBeing playful,\nWe're all gaining more than\neach of us is putting in.\n