play
- to occupy oneself in amusement (the typical dictionary type definition); to escape?
- to fully engage in life, in living
- to celebrate life, discovery (an attitude or mindset?)
- to find freedom; to explore ideas, concepts; to imagine or dream
- to be creative in whatever endeavour attempted (see Genesis 1 & 2)
- to be child-like in discovery of... (education of children occurs primarily through play)
4 comments:
I believe play is being open to ideas and experiences - a free spirit to new adventure and to your own essense of "being".I think you have the right idea in what play constitutes for yourself. Personally, I do not give the idea of "play" much thought. However, after really looking at the definitions you have on your blog, I find the notion quite intriguing, and vital to ultimate happiness & contentment. Thanks for the insights!
My children have reminded me how to 'play' wither it be on the floor with their trucks, or in my own 'adult' life. I embrace life much more like a child now. I think you are on the right track. Sorry I don't have more to offer!
Thanx jaime lee & rachel for your comments! I think society as a whole does not give "play" much thought as it seems that "thinking about it" would some how take the fun out of play. In fact, for most people it is the escape from work offered by play that attracts them. However, in order to play it seems we Canadians & Americans need to buy our "toys" to entertain us instead of finding our own creative ways of playing.
Isn't it intriguing how a child can play with a cardboard box and create a zillion ways of using it? Instead of creating happiness through play we are attemting to buy happiness through the aquistion of the latest and greatest toys.
I'm guilty of this type of thinking - I have an amazing mtn bike but I am so tempted to go buy a new one. Why? Will it be more fun? Are we really using the toys we already have to their full potential?
Genuine play is creative with the materials present!
I think you brought up a very good point in that when we possess these toys that were/are fulfilling at some point, what is the need to buy more? I think our culture is so conditioned to sensory images. That we are constantly in need of something faster, bigger, which ultimately leads us to believe that it is "better". Movies are hugely computer generated - most often you do not realize if you are viewing something created or reality! Cars are becoming second homes to many families - equipped with DVD players and video game systems, and gadgets are becoming multi-use items (take these camera/video/cell phones. As a culture, we often forget what the main purpose of the item once was! I think children are not in need of these new huge scensory objects to keep their attention in check because they are still new in the world and their visual scenes, even the littlest item of entertainment (like your cardboard box) can be a wonderous experience. How I wish I could go back to those days of creativity adn imagination - the "play" seemed so much more fun!
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