All Work and No Play
Remember the nursery rhyme about how all work and no play makes us dull?
In preparation for this email, I wanted to do research but was cautious not to search for the words “adult” and “play” together. That’s play too, but it’s not for this column.
The Oxford Dictionary defines play as:
engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose or
take part in (a sport).
As for 2, because I lack hand-eye coordination, all sports with balls coming at me seem terrifying. And for 1, well, let’s talk about that. My middle name is “practical purpose”...isn’t yours? I bet if you look up “immigrant daughter” in the dictionary, it would say “serious” “practical” “purposeful.”
So, I asked myself, are we capable of play? The truth is, I don’t know yet. But I – and we – can do anything we put our mind to, right?
Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to schedule a playdate for myself every week.
What will I do on this scheduled date? Aimlessly walk, explore a local gallery, sit in a coffee shop with a book, maybe see a friend.
The play experts probably are against the idea of scheduling play, but baby steps here…I am committing to 12 play dates through the end of the year. Occasionally, I’ll report back.
You’re probably thinking you don’t have time for this. I beg to differ. I just learned about this book–168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. I haven’t read it yet, but even for those of us who work too many hours, here’s the math:
60 hours of work (too many) + 49 hours of sleep (because I know you’re getting 8 hours every night) = 109 hours
That leaves nearly 60 hours! What are you spending that time on? Meal prep, Netflix, doom scrolling. What if you took two hours of that time as your play time?
Let’s try it. LMK how it goes. And share your ideas for play, because most of us are novices here.
Sayu