Homo Ludens

Homo Ludens

                                                              

”Man is only completely a man when he plays.”*

                                             Friedrich Schiller

We all know that we think too much and live too little. That we’re too much in our heads. 

The problem is that we try to stop thinking by thinking ;-) A better solution: enter your body.

When you concentrate completely on how your foot-soles touch the ground when walking, or how the toothpaste tastes when you brush your teeth, then you allow your mind a little pause.

Sometimes this concentration comes naturally, without us having to think about it: when we do something we enjoy so deeply that we’re all there, body and mind united. Like when children play!

Unfortunately most grown-ups have forgotten how to play. But some of us DO enjoy something so much, that we return to that state. Dancing, perhaps, fishing, skiing, or playing scrabble.

One definition of play is ”something done for its own sake”. It's voluntary, it's pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome.

When do you play…?

*“Der Mensch ist nur da ganz Mensch, wo er spielt”