When you discuss the subject of 'play' with anyone, the response is curious, and encouraging, if not excited. Why do we need to play, how can we play, where can we play, and when could we be playing? These are the questions we're here to discover answers to, through our own experiences. Let's learn to play 🕹️ play to learn.
This issue is not just about making your work life less stressful or making your vacations more enjoyable. Play has a deeper significance than you may realize. Most of our deepest experiences revolve around religious beliefs and rituals. While each one of us may have our own preferences, a commonality between all religions is forgiveness. God, as we know him/her is the all-forgiving one.
Whatever our religion, we know that if we really want to love, we must first learn to forgive before anything else. Mother Teresa
All systems have their own elaborate rituals involved in applying for forgiveness, but you know those applications will be passed regardless. It's also well known that we find it way harder to forgive ourselves. But the bigger question is why are we forgiven our greatest transgressions and sins; heinous or frivolous? If you've gotten this far and still curious, congratulations. I promise this will be worth the read.
Let's take a ride down memory lane. Imagine you're barely 10, playing in the sandpit with your buddies. All is fun and games until you're accidentally pushed by your best friend. You fall flat on your face. How would you react? Would you be angry? Would you blame your friend? How long would you hold it against him or her - days, hours, minutes, or seconds?
Now reconsider your answer under different circumstances - when you're 15, when you're 20, 25, 30, and so on. You will discover that your forgiveness quotient is higher when you're younger. And of course so is your fun quotient, or your capacity to enjoy yourself, interact with others, and your environment. Is there a relation between fun and forgiveness?
Life is more fun if you play games. Roald Dahl
Play isn't merely something you grow out of. It is something you grow through. A medium for understanding oneself in relation to others. In this game we play together, sometimes we get hurt. The sooner we forgive each other, the sooner we can get back to enjoying the game. Life is a game, not a sport. No one is keeping score, save yourself. So learn to forgive others and forgive yourself. The game may be long or short, but whether it's fun or not is entirely in your hands.
So what do you say, shall we play? Here's the game. List all the people in your life
who have hurt you
who have pushed you away
who you have hurt
who you have pushed away
Write the names down in a book. Now imagine what it would be like to forgive or be forgiven. Imagine what kind of interaction you'd have with them post that. Would that lead to a more fun-filled and fulfilled experience of life?
How come we play war and not peace? Too few role models. Bill Watterson
The possibilities of play are endless. And it's not always as deep as the ride you just took. Here's a bunch of masks we created to play pranks on people in zoom rooms. If you must wear a mask, make it fun. To bring a smile to our faces, to laugh a little, to giggle aplenty. To play. Together. See you on the other side of one of these beauties
This issue also marks the beginning of my asynchronous expression. You may hear from me on Mondays every week. Or you may hear from me many times a week. Or maybe I'll be away for even a month without contact. Tell me how that makes you feel and what you'd prefer. Because that's the subject for the next issue - should play be structured or ad-hoc?
Ritesh, you always make me smile every Monday.
What more could I ask for? A smile so wide it travels all the way across the world!
I see a paradigm shift in me. Playfully, but yes there has been a shift. I am amazed
You can even add it to your weekly review, so it's a regular and consistent process.