The Power of Play
Image via @Cocorrina
Summer time is the perfect time to connect with the power of play. When we can forget about everyday chores for a minute and explore the world through curiosity and joy, we find new ways to approach old problems or get out of a seemingly stuck situation.
The Power of Play
Play is part of how we have grown and evolved as human beings, and elements of play can be found in most of our major efforts to make sense of the human experience. From Ancient Greek philosophy over Freud’s notion of ‘oceanic feeling’ to Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of ‘flow’ to Einstein’s “combinatory play” term, that was his own describtion of how his mind worked - and the the secret to his genius.
When we peer even farther back into the origin of the word, we discover that play’s original meaning was quite different, something altogether more urgent and abstract. In Indo-European, plegan meant to risk, chance, expose oneself to hazard. A pledge was integral to the act of play, as was danger.
Champion of Play
Athlete and 6x SUP World Champion Casper Steinfath, who has famed the city of Klitmøller in the North of Denmark under the name of ‘Cold Hawaii, was raised with the ‘Deep Play’ philosophy, where the power of spontaneity, creativity, and the unknown factors of nature, are part of his life strategy - and winning formula. Steinfath has ascribed his success to the Deep Play formula. According to him, we have to keep playing through our entire lives. We have to keep practicing spontaneity and creativity to keep our mind in the present. Steinfath’s element, the ocean works as his play mate, that cultivates exactly these qualities in him. When he is with the waves, he has to be fully present, forget about time and place and rely solely on his instincts and reactions. The ocean plays the unknown factor of the game, a game that constantly asks him to balance and navigate in a different way.
Steinfath believes the ability to be present is one of the most important in life, but one that the modern man has lost track of in his daily life. And he constantly pushes, or plays, himself into deeper waters, where he can explore and fail, as he believes failing is the way to grow. ‘We all makes mistakes, it is the way, we get on up, that shows, who we are’. Steinfath says.
Failing is not exactly a goal for most modern people these days, but according to Steinfath it is an elemental part of progression and the formula of winning. The truth is, we all fail every day. The difference is whether we embrace failing as part of life. When we invite failing in as a play mate, we can harness the power of getting back up in a more creative and clever way, we could not access, if we had ‘played it safe’.
COLD HAWAII is an area covering no less than 31 amazing surf spots which achieved its name because the wind conditions in the area are similar to the ones you will find in Hawaii. Famed by Casper Steinfath, this is a place to explore the power of play, where spontaneity, creativity, and the unknown factors of nature can be trained to become part of your life strategy. Find more places to play in the SEMINE Motherland guide here.
Deep Play
‘Deep Play’ is a term described by poet, essayist, and naturalist Diane Ackerman who describes how every element of the human saga requires play and how our passion for deep play has made us the puzzling and resplendent beings we are. We evolved through play. Our culture thrives on play. Life rituals, and ceremonies includes play. Ideas are playful reverberations of the mind. Language is a playing with words until they can impersonate physical objects and abstract ideas.
Play is so familiar to us, so deeply ingrained in our childhood as the language of getting to know the world - and to survive. Almost all species play as an important factor of their survival strategy. The more an animal needs to learn in order to survive, the more it needs to play. Play is widespread among animals because it invites problem-solving, allowing a creature to test its limits and develop strategies. In a dangerous world, where dramas change daily, survival belongs to the agile not the idle. We may think of play as optional, a casual activity. But play is fundamental to evolution. Without play, humans and many other animals would dissappear.
Play is also a way to invent ourselves and evolve into the best version. Ackerman argues how we become ideal versions of ourselves, when we play, as the many moods and varieties help to define who we are and all we wish to be.
“We want to drink from the source. In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time’s continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world’s ordinary miracles… When it happens we experience a sense of revelation and gratitude. Nothing need be thought or said. There is a way of beholding that is a form of prayer.”
Sacred Play
According to Ackerman, ecstacy, the greek word an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement, is the pre-condition for Deep Play. As is the ability to surrender and react instinctively.
Deep Play is per definition more about ecstatic feelings, intensity and mood and less about the actual activity. Games for instance don’t guarantee deep play, but some activities are prone to it: art, religion, risk-taking, and some sports — especially those that take place in relatively remote, silent, and floaty environments, such as scuba diving, parachuting, hang gliding, mountain climbing
Deep play always involves the sacred and holy, sometimes hidden in the most unlikely or humble places — that moment of surfing a wave, reaching a peak on a mountain top, sharing a story by the fire or gazing on starry sky with a loved one. We spend our lives in pursuit of moments that will allow these altered states to happen.
When one enters the realm of deep play, the sacred playground where only the present moment matters, one’s history and future vanish. One doesn’t remember one’s past, needs, expectations and worries.
Welcome Play into your life. Not only for the thrill of it, but to become more agile, present and -simply alive.
How do you practice play in your own life? Leave a comment below, or share this article with a coming Play Mate.
Playful Summer blessings,
START YOUR DEEP PLAY JOURNEY HERE
SEMINE Motherland
‘Motherland’ is a digital slow-travel tour guide to amazing nature reserves, secret oases, wellness hotspots and playful places in SEMINE’s own Motherland: Denmark
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