Play

Day 8: Play

I decided that I have recently spent too much time being introspective and pulling thoughts out of my own brain, so I decided to take to the minds of others. 

I asked them the question:

"If you could tell me what the word "Play" means to you in 1-3 sentences- what would you say?" 

These are their incredible, silly, mind-altering, beautiful, and interesting answers from the minds of varied individuals: 

Well obviously play has plenty of different definitions depending on the importance of the subject matter to the individual. Regardless of the implied implication of the word (such as theatre play, to play outside, to press play on a song, etc.) they all have a positive connotation. to play is to create and to experience positively, in its verb tense. -Nicholas 

Makes me think of all my grand kids in plays which makes me so happy. Play with my grandchildren young and old. Play when I was a child with my brother and sister. So I guess in a nutshell, the word play makes me think of happy times. -Caren

To me it means an expression of ones true inner self. You only ever play things (games, music, and so on) when you want to show someone who you really are. It's a piece of oneself. -Norbert

Children. Joy. Unscripted. Happiness. Friendship. -Tiffany 

I think play is interacting with things in your life or even with the things in the environment around you. I think that it is also an opportunity for one to use their imagination and learn. -Hannah 

When I think of a play, I think stripped down. It's a medium that has next to no music or gimmicks but relies solely and only on communication. And that communication has even more of a sense of urgency behind it. -Camara 

"Play" means I'm not ready for opening night! I will never get my lines...or pickup my cues! -Walt

Play means to explore, create, while enjoying the working process. We need to play to try out new things that we may or may not like. -Kyle

Play is a time of creative exploration. It's a time to be free and enjoy life. Play is necessary at all ages and stages of life. -Amber 

Fun. Joy. Friends. Yeahhhh. -Jim 

Playing is experimenting and letting loose. Just letting failure happen I guess? You’re letting anything happen and it’s just joy filled. You can tinker around with things, but it’s really the joy and the recklessness. -Madison

Games? You play them and that's why it's called playing. -Max 

The first thing I think of is playing on the swing set outside. When we played the Magical swing set that took us to different worlds, like the magic tree house but we didn't have a tree house so we used a swing set. We went to Halloweentown and Hogwarts and Candy Land and everywhere else. -Hayden 

It's important to have fun, but winning will make you feel even better. -Michael 

When I think of that word, I see a vision that I received from the Lord a few years ago of the two of us running around on a playground together. It makes me think of youthful delight. In my mind it means having the spirit and imagination of a child, ready and open to step into any circumstance and explore in it, wonder at it. -Abby 

The word play reminds me of my younger days. I used to spend so much time playing outside! For me, “play” means ADVENTURE! -Luke 

A fun time had by all. - that's what I would define it as. -Kesley 

Play is a smaller than usual theatre production that doesn't involve singing. Play is what you do with a game and with other people. Play is what you do to listen to music and audio. -Andrew 

Playing usually makes me feel joyful and happy I guess, cause.....I don’t know. -James 

Play is the opposite of stress. It is inimical to adulting. It is the total freedom to be yourself. It is getting down on the floor with your toddler, looking him in the eye, and then pulling a face and making him belly laugh. -Erin

Play means the distraction of yourself from reality and immersing yourself in a different reality. Playing could be Netflix, a book, hanging with friends, writing, etc. Anything that can take your mind off of the real world and into a different world. -Will

Reading these responses not only intrigued me, but honestly expanded my mind. I never would have thought going into this, that the answers I received would be so varied, and SO particular.

“Play” is something that I have always been passionate about.  I also thought that I understood and was passionate about every sense of the word. However, after seeking out the thoughts of others, I have gained NEW understandings of the word “Play”. I cannot wait to continue to explore the meanings of this word, and many more. This little project gave me a new passion to continue learning about the minds of diverse people’s, and exploring what makes each and every one of us an individual. 

So, let’s continue to play shall we?

With Love Always,

Bailey