Play
Are We Inherently Playful?
Imagination is another word for "a mind that's playing around."
Posted September 27, 2016
We have a mind. Not just a brain. A mind. And the one thing it likes doing most is to play around. Just playing around.
Think of it this way: we are, all of us, inherently playful. And by "us," I don't mean just us human beings. I mean being itself.
Given the chance, the health, the safety, and the freedom, that's what we'd do: play. Whenever we can. With whatever and whomever we can find. Even when we're not that healthy, that safe, that free. We play as best we can.
It's what we do, together, separately, mind, body, soul. Play.
It's our nature.
I've been playing around a lot lately with the thing we call imagination. We like to think of it as a thing the brain does. I've been thinking it's a lot more than that.
I've just now decided that imagination, a thing of a mind, is another word for "a mind that's playing around." Because, whatever imagination "really" is, that's what we do with it, when we can. Play around.
Sometimes we call it art, sometimes thoughts, sometimes dreams. When we do it with what we think of as our soul, we sometimes call it love, compassion, empathy, morality, faith, belief. When we do it with our bodies, too, we sometimes call it dance, sometimes theater, sometimes ritual, sometimes meditation, sex, yoga, games, sports.
We do it with the mind we think of as being in our head and the mind we some times realize is our body and the shared mind that we occasionally realize is our community.
We play around. For fun. For understanding. For peace, love, happiness. For life.
And when we don't, it's only because we can't. And when we can't, we get depressed, frightened, angry, mean, or stupid. And we can't imagine ever being anything else. And it all stops being fun. And so do we.
So we take a nap. And when we can wake up again we get to play around some more.