I read the following recently:
We take life too seriously, but we don’t take play seriously enough.
All creativity is born out of a spirit of play.If we are in the business of leading and learning and strategizing and advocating and changing systems for a more regenerative and equitable reality…then we need creativity.
We need play!
Play is anything we do out of the inherent joy of the process. It might look like making music, creating art, competing and games, puzzling or problem solving, practicing or learning, performing a dance, making something beautiful, building something, writing stories, exploring, adventuring, or telling jokes.
While we may enjoy the end result of our play – feel proud of the art or music we create, celebrate the final score of the game, delight in what we discover on our adventures, or appreciate the laughs at our jokes – we are playing when we do it for the inherent pleasure of it.
In this podcast, Rick Rubin talks about trying things with no expectation or pressure or hope or need that it will work out. It’s about having FUN while trying. And exploring – what will make us laugh? What feels interesting?
Play is doing something for the sole enjoyment of participating in the activity.
Play is when we are fully engaged, in flow, and in the fluidity of the moment.
The pleasure is in the process.
How do you play?
One of the ways I play is through soccer. Last week during a game, our team was on the field, but for the first half, we weren’t moving around the field. We weren’t responsive to each other. We weren’t talking. We weren’t passing. We weren’t taking good shots on the goal.
We were so caught up in trying to get a goal that we weren’t playing. Our play shut down.
It’s not play if we are only focused on the outcome. That’s work. That’s labor.
And it narrows our focus, limits our connection, and restricts our flow and fluidity.
Being solely attached to a singular outcome dampens our creativity. Play unleashes it.
As we engage in the complexity of systems change, how might we play today? In our leadership, as we encounter challenges and problems, how might we engage them with the spirit and creativity of play?
Wishing you moments of insight, clarity, and courage,
Matteah
How might we stay open to the joy, flow and fluidity of this moment?