Play and Seriousness (Johan Huizinga) - Blog Post #4

Huizinga talks about the idea of play in a variety of contexts in this reading, one of them being play in relation to seriousness.  Many people would argue that play is not a "serious" thing that we do.  Play is supposed to be a release or outlet from the other more intense aspects of our lives.  Some people play to relieve stress, some people play to escape from the rest of the world around them, or for a multitude of other reasons.  As they describe in the reading, playing requires a part of our brain to break down and allow us to become more than "mechanical human beings".  This break down is crucial to our livelihood and is something that we learn to do from very young ages.  Looking back to thinking about play being serious or non-serious, both types of play exist commonly in the world.  Type of play that you do and how you participate can determine how serious it is.  For example, much of the play that children involve themselves in might not be considered serious play.  Playing tag outside or making up a game with a sibling is purely playing for the sake of expending energy.  But looking games like chess, board games, and sporting events would all be types of play that is serious.  

It was interesting to read about categorizing play in different ways and made me think about the aspects in my life that would be considered serious or non-serious play.  Even just taking the idea of playing sports into account when looking at them in this context.  Playing on an organized team or being a member of the club gymnastics team here at the UofM I would say are both forms of serious play.  I am not involved in them for the sole purpose of just doing them, I am participating because I want to be better and I want to win.  On the other hand, when my roommates and friends go to the park and play a game of pickup volleyball or football, this type of play is non-serious.  We are all out there because we wanted to go do something, but the effort levels and stakes are not nearly as high as they are on a coordinated team.  Both forms of play I am relieving stress, having fun, and taking time away from the stresses of every day life but the activities and way in which I 'show up' to them differs.

I think that the overarching theme of this article is the sheer importance of play in our lives.  How different types of play shape who we are, the thoughts we have, our viewpoints, and so on.  Play is a crucial aspect of being a human being, both serious and non-serious play included.