We all need play

the fun of it. Preferably a physical activity, not reading or visiting a museum, as much as I love those things.

I suspect that if we as adults figured out ways to incorporate more play into our lives, we might experience fewer periods of sustained stress, less irritability and more enjoyable experiences in our relationships. Play reminds us that to engage with others and the world is a joyful gift.

I love the slightly odd painting “Naked Women Playing Checkers” (1897) by the Swiss-French artist Félix Vallotton. It shows two young women playing checkers on a green-carpeted floor. One woman has her legs spread in front of the checkerboard as she gazes down, observing the moves of her opponent, who is crouching with one hand across her lap. We are at their level, but we can’t see their faces and they, immersed in the game, seem oblivious to the viewer.

It is strange to me that Vallotton chose to paint the women naked. But I also see a sense to it, regardless of his intentions: to play does require one to have one’s guard down, a vulnerability that could be symbolised by nakedness and exposure. We all know what it feels like to not get picked to play a game. We also know that sometimes we might get physically hurt while playing. In this sense, playtime can be an occasion for rejection and for wounding.

And yet we also all know that there are times of play in which our joy or pleasure cannot be controlled or contained. When we relinquish the grasp on our curated and disciplined social selves in order to be present, giving ourselves over to whomever we might become. Play provides us with opportunities to free ourselves from our worries about how we are perceived or how we are performing.

British artist Philip Reinagle’s 1805 painting “Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog” might seem purely comical, perhaps a satire on the musical child prodigies of the time. But I include it here because I love the seeming silliness of it, and the audacity of imagination it requires to paint such a serious portrait of such an improbable experience.

An element of how we play should be about widening our imagination to allow a heightened level of ridiculousness back into our lives. To do whatever makes us laugh, to participate in what responsible sensibilities might deem foolish behaviour. We play not for recognition nor to please others. We play to release ourselves back towards a posture of delight, curiosity, joy and engagement with those around us and the world at large.