I often talk about how I'm convinced that the world needs more art, soul, laughter, celebration, and playfulness. I believe that's the antidote to the 'disease of seriousness' and the recipe for cultivating a society where people experience greater joy and fulfillment in life. However, that doesn't mean that play can never be serious. In this blog, we'll be exploring the fluid contrast between play and seriousness.

Currently, I'm reading the book "Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture" by Johan Huizinga. It's a book from 1938, and to be honest with you, I find it a bit tough (and at times boring) to read. However, it has already given me some great new insights.

I particularly like how he explains that we usually think of play and seriousness as total opposites, but - in reality - that's not how play works. Genuine and spontaneous play can actually be profoundly serious at times.

“As soon as we proceed from “play is non-seriousness” to “play is not serious”, the contrast leaves us in the lurch—for some play can be very serious indeed. Moreover, we can immediately name several other fundamental categories that likewise come under the heading “non-seriousness” yet have no correspondence whatever with “play”. Laughter, for instance, is in a sense the opposite of seriousness without being absolutely bound up with play,” writes Huizinga.

For example, kids' games, football, and chess are all played very seriously. Players don’t even think about laughing, even though they know it’s play. Or think about this: When a child plays, they do it with all their heart, almost like it's something really important. The same goes for a sports player—they give it their all, but they know it's just a game. And even an actor on stage, totally focused on their role, still knows it's all part of a play.

When we're playing a game, listening to music, or creating art, we can get really caught up in it. And the line between playing and being serious is always moving. Even though playing might seem less important to some, it can become just as important as any other activity. Playfulness can become serious, and seriousness can become playful.

In other words, play is not necessarily meant to be funny, goofy, ‘not serious’, or – in fact – anything else, neither for the ones playing nor the ones watching.

“Summing up the formal characteristics of play, we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside “ordinary” life as being “not serious”, but at the same time, absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner,” Huizinga continues.

So, when we play, it's not about being wise or foolish, truthful or lying, good or bad. It's also not about trying to be serious or trying to not be serious. It’s a different kind of activity that doesn't have anything to do with morals or being right or wrong. We don't judge play based on whether it's good or bad—it's just something we do because we’re wired for it.

“In play, we may move below the level of the serious, as the child does; but we can also move above it—in the realm of the beautiful and the sacred.”

A playful way of being is more about stepping out of a normal routine, taking chances, and enjoying the unexpected. It's about embracing feeling a bit nervous and excited at the same time. When things get tense in a game, it makes it even more exciting, and sometimes you forget you're just playing because it feels so real. In a sense, it’s about welcoming the polarities in life, ditching the labels, and being present–at times, goofing around; at others, tackling challenges like your life depends on it.

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See you in the next blog,

Stefanie

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