Sometimes people will say: "I've got a new toy"... well- I've got a new toy!
Actually, the truth is, I've got a few new toys, lately. One is a keyboard, the other is an IPad tablet. So, the IPad I can say is for work- and it is, really. But- it comes with some nifty things for play.
I'm not talking about games, though I sometimes use games. But the games we typically use on phones and tablets are not really play. They are more accurately categorized as 'escape' or 'numbing'. People use these simple repetitive games to distract themselves from a subway journey, from an unavoidable wait, from a pause in the action. This is not play.
Play is more active than that. Play is creative, imaginative, expressive, and at best, social. Play is not driven by outcomes, or product- it is activity for its own ends. Simply, to play is the point.
I am not a musician. I have no training, no background, no musical theory. I sometimes listen to music, but not in a serious way. I am ignorant of its history, its big names, for the most part and I don't listen to the radio, I'm not up on the current trends. So when I fool around on my keyboard, there is no beauty in it for anyone else. But for me- this toy takes me to a state of flow, and that is deeply relaxing.
I 'play' on my keyboard. I find rhythms and beats I like, and set the autoplay going. Then I express myself without judgement. 'noodling around' to make a song that isn't a song. I'm exploring, and I don't record it, or get attached to the outcome. When I'm done, I'm grinning and happy, laughing with goofy pleasure.
Play.
How do you do it?