Playtime, and time for play
In my calendar, Mondays are supposed to be about play. And yet, over the last month or so, instead of playing, I've defaulted to working - writing, catching up on emails, reading papers for the theory. Play has taken a back seat to the things I felt needed doing - despite no-one specifically telling me so. But even before that, it wasn't plain sailing; I found the concept of needing to play challenging, because I didn't know what it was I was supposed to be approaching playfully. Printmaking? Drawing? Coding? Sure, why not - but then, also, why?
I wonder if by carving out this time, I may have caused the kind of false separation between work and play that I'm trying to avoid; by something specifically being play, but play without purpose (or a project), do I in fact make it less fun? Am I forcing myself to play - and how does that affect me playing the rest of the week?
We need to take play seriously. But taking it seriously doesn't necessarily mean scheduling specific time for it. Doing so might block the opportunity for spontaneity, and perhaps instil a feeling that play can't take place in non-mandated 'play time'. Perhaps what needs to happen is a more open agreement with myself; that I trust that the work will happen, and if I feel the impetus to go and do something more playful, I take it, trusting that the outputs that work requires will happen.
Being playful takes practice, focus, space, and trust. How we figure those things out for ourselves is, perhaps, down to trial and error.