After I spent some time yesterday musing about the relationship between work and play and concluding that “the play must go on,” that we should consider bringing the same enthusiastic approach to our work as to our play, the artificial intelligence at Facebook reminded me that I had written something along the same lines three years ago.
Maybe it’s a “first day of summer” thing — the solstice puts me in a more playful mood.
In any case, here is an encore performance from 2018:
It’s your game
OK. No games this time.
Now, see? That’s your problem. Why “no games”?
Well … this is serious.
Is it, now? Or maybe the way to be serious about it is not to be serious at all. Play a game.
It’s not a game!
Well, maybe that’s the problem: Maybe you need to make it a game. Here are the rules, here’s the ball, over here is out of bounds, and there’s the net or the goal line or home. Get out there and play!
I think I see what you mean.
There is no “think.” You either see or you don’t.
Put me in, coach. I’m ready.
Oh, there’s no “coach,” either. You get to decide if you’re going to play today.
But if it’s a game, you need a coach to decide.
Not that decision – that one’s all yours. So – are you in? You gonna play?
But this is serious!
That’s one way to see it. Try another way.
Like, keep score? Set the time clock?
If you want. It’s your game. Just play. You’ll figure out how to cross the goal line, produce what you came here to produce, and do what you came to do.
And have fun?
That’s the whole point.