Habitual, routine, scheduled from and to day will be different if we allow ourselves to … play.
The game for us is a way out of the ordinary. Usually we try to calculate our time: it can be wasted, used correctly, saved, it’s not for nothing that they say “time is money”. But in the game, time becomes infinite, opens up like inexhaustible wealth. When we are passionate about the game, we do not notice how it flows. The game is also a way out of one’s limits, an ascent to a new stage of development. This is true for all living creatures, from the very beginning of life. Animals in the game find their place in the pack, children learn new skills, including in the field of communication. The process of courtship, gradually bringing the couple closer, is also comparable to the game. Out of ordinary time, out of ordinary space…
- “Being an adult is a role in which you need to compose yourself”
Endgames involve a conclusion, an ending that determines the course and meaning of the game. A typical example is sports games. The space in them is arranged in a special way: football, hockey, basketball require a limited and marked field. Time in these games is usual, chronological. Although sports games are strictly regulated, there is an element of surprise in them: players rely not only on their skill, but also on luck. It is never known which team will win in advance, otherwise it would not be interesting to follow the game. In the final game, the right move is the one that brings it closer to completion. But in an endless game, the right move allows it to continue on. These games are open to the future, they are not limited in time. Endless games are not about winning: they take us back to early childhood when we played just because it was so cool!
A typical example of an endless game is dance. Dancing, we move from the familiar world to the world of music, rhythm, movement, sensations from our own body, and return from this short journey renewed. Other arts — theater, painting, music — are also examples of endless play. They allow us to expand the field of our possibilities, to go beyond the usual idea of ourselves. All his life, a person believed that there were only seven colors of the spectrum, but now he became interested in painting and gradually realizes with surprise that he sees dozens of shades.
Play is a space for growth that is always open to us, even if childhood is over. Working days are scheduled by the minute, weekends are barely enough for household chores — how to find a loophole if we are no longer children and adult life is actively claiming its rights to us? You can take the game with all the seriousness it deserves and include it among your priorities. Allocate at least an hour a day and devote it to your favorite creative activity. Find a game dimension in the usual and even routine work. In the morning, opening your eyes, say to yourself: “Today I will have time to play.” And the day will be different…
M. Kingwell «Happiness and the Art of Play». Presentation at the psychological conference «Healing and prosperity through meaning», Toronto, July 2012.