This is such an interesting concept and so relevant - people are often so preoccupied with being productive or achieving things that it's easy to forget that existing is the point!
I used to struggle with rest a lot, always thinking I needed to be doing something of value. But over the past decade, I've gotten quite good at just enjoying - and 'playing', I guess. I'm also a huge fan of walking and I read a lot without any true purpose. Cooking is another one for me! 'Play' is what life is all about!
I recently got laid off from my job, and despite not going to my full-time job for about a month now, leisure and play feel like something I am just now able to come around to. It has been especially disheartening to realize how much that lifestyle separated me from any ability to be connected to my spirituality. Burnout is the result of the modern world making it so difficult for people to justify play and leisure. It is the result of a system that seems to not want us to feel alive anymore. I loved reading this article because it points to how necessary it is for us as living beings to not just be reduced to whatever it is we can produce.
Somehow I managed to keep a considerable amount of my childhood energy and sense of wonder, which feels like a small miracle considering adulthood keeps trying to turn everything into a spreadsheet.
This is such an interesting concept and so relevant - people are often so preoccupied with being productive or achieving things that it's easy to forget that existing is the point!
I used to struggle with rest a lot, always thinking I needed to be doing something of value. But over the past decade, I've gotten quite good at just enjoying - and 'playing', I guess. I'm also a huge fan of walking and I read a lot without any true purpose. Cooking is another one for me! 'Play' is what life is all about!
Lovely essay! Thank you for writing it, Lilly!
I recently got laid off from my job, and despite not going to my full-time job for about a month now, leisure and play feel like something I am just now able to come around to. It has been especially disheartening to realize how much that lifestyle separated me from any ability to be connected to my spirituality. Burnout is the result of the modern world making it so difficult for people to justify play and leisure. It is the result of a system that seems to not want us to feel alive anymore. I loved reading this article because it points to how necessary it is for us as living beings to not just be reduced to whatever it is we can produce.
Great thoughts. I’m really sorry to hear about your job. I hope it becomes a doorway for something greater!
Omg, I still love to play. 😭👧🏼💖
Somehow I managed to keep a considerable amount of my childhood energy and sense of wonder, which feels like a small miracle considering adulthood keeps trying to turn everything into a spreadsheet.
Loved reading your article! ✨
Thank you, Clara. I’m delighted to hear this. I love being around people who have an open sense of wonder.
I love this, Lilly. Especially this part:
“when play is suppressed, we become more rigid, anxious, less creative, and less able to connect with other people.”
Play gives us all our human needs. When you put it that way, it seems crazy to label it a luxury.
it’s so true, isn’t it? We need more play!
I love this topic! I deeply value fun, and play is an important aspect of fun.
I notice such a difference when I make time for it.
Yes so much alone time and still "need" more.