ia play

the good life in a digital age

you’re not playful

A colleague expressed surprise today at the name of this blog since “I don’t think of you as playful… you’re very sensible”. It would seem that the arrival on my desk of a pink boggly eyed flamingo from Las Vegas and various FatDUX ducks can’t dispel years of building a reputation for pragmatism. And apparently keeping pet chickens in Tottenham is a rubbish way to be “a little bit crazy” as the little egg producers are probably the most practical pet you can get.

But I’m interested in the creation of this new antonym pair, playful-sensible. I mean, I understand what they are getting at. We have a tendency to associate play with time wasting, task avoidance, and just generally not getting the job done. It is what children do instead of doing jobs, isn’t it?

At this point I defer to John Thorn, sports historian and author of Total Baseball, someone a little outside my usual reading matter:

“Why we play as children is not because it is our work or because it is how we learn, though both statements are true; we play because we are wired for joy, it is imperative as human beings.”

Which makes it a very sensible thing to do, surely?

Written by Karen

July 2nd, 2007 at 11:13 am

Posted in play,work