Pat Kane explains "The Play Ethic"

My personally sacred son Elyon noted that someone at his university had printed out something from a website called "The Play Ethic" - the virtual home of Scottish social activist Pat Kane. Listening to his mighty brogue, his poetic and powerful appreciation for the potential of play, is positively inspiring.

He may be taking a different road, but he is a true fellow traveler. I lifted the following from his article Why Believe in Life When it Doesn't Believe in You:

...Those who clear space in their lives for activities that are pleasurable, voluntary and imaginative - that is, for play - have better memory, sharper reasoning, and more optimism about their future. As the dean of play studies, the University of Pennsylvania's Brian Sutton-Smith says, "the opposite of play isn't work. It's depression. To play is to act out and be wilful, exultant and committed, as if one is assured of one's prospects".

So to call yourself a "player", rather than a "worker", is to immediately widen your conception of who you are, and what you might be capable of doing. It is to dedicate yourself to realizing your full human potential; to take an essentially active, rather than passive stance towards your environment; and to be constantly guided in this by your sense of fulfillment, meaning and satisfaction.

The play ethic is what happens when the values of play become the foundation of a whole way of life. It turns us into more militant producers, and more discriminating consumers. It causes us to re-prioritise the affairs of our hearts, to upgrade the quality of our emotional and social relationships. It makes us more activist in our politics, but less traditional in their expression. And most of all, the play ethic forces us to think deeply about how we should pursue our pleasures - and how we reconcile that with our social duties.

Pat clearly shares the vision that lies at the heart of DeepFUN, and gives voice to the kind of personal and social change that is inevitable for those who take the heart to heart.

As for his mention of Brian Sutton-Smith - Brian is one of the few people I know who appreciates play in its fullest, un-adult-erated, uncensored breadth. He was a frequent visitor to the Games Preserve and a long time friend. Further evidence that, as Pat says, we are playing in the same sandbox.