MM - HOW TO LIBERATE PLAY

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YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY

PLAY

I want to play, let me go,
life is boring, it’s so slow;
No, you say, I’ve got to stay,
play must not get in life’s way;
But I’m fed up of doing as I’m told,
when adventure could so easily unfold,
I’m sick of regular boring stuff,
I’m a pirate, a spaceman, and Oh! so tough;
Then, you say, I’m a fool,
for thinking play should be the rule;
Well, I’ll throw a tantrum, stamp my feet,
scream and shout and raise my heartbeat,
‘cos I want to go out and kick a ball,
think up games to enthrall;
Well, you say, you’ll stay in ’til tea,
I’ll teach you to play up to me,
time to grow up, be busy as a bee,
after all, you ARE fifty three

(c) Anthony North, May 2008

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LIBERATING PLAY

It is healthy to play. Of that there can be little doubt. Letting off a bit of safe steam, it clears angst, and takes you out of the Rat Race for a time. Playing is good. And this has not been lost on those who shape our culture.
The success of the west has been the rise of the Middleclass, and the liberation it has involved. Yet as they gained predominance from the 18th century onwards, their wealth and intellect had to be guaranteed within the family.
Prior to this, the concept of the ‘child’ was vague. Children had little education and worked from an early age. Childhood was ‘invented’ in order to guarantee an education. And ‘play’ became part of the process.
Hence, we can see, here, how ‘playing’ was actually an ideological requirement. And this is not lost on modern consumerism. The media encourages playing as if it is a definite requirement of life.
Well, it is - because people who play the hardest spend the most. And that is said to be ‘good’. Sadly, though, this mass encouragement of play also leads to many of the problems of excess that are the scourge of the west.
If we understood this, we could maybe liberate play from our over-indulgence, and turn play into the occasional break from the grind, instead of the destructive ideology it has become.

© Anthony North, May 2008

LIBERATION

Life is a search for liberation,
fighting alienation,
overcoming angst,
wanting emancipation,
not asking for thanks

Life is a search for revolution,
fighting repression,
overcoming chains,
wanting insurrection,
not asking for gains

Life is a search for all these things,
to liberate from all our sins,
to work towards a better world,
as liberation does continually unfold;
To journey onwards as we stray,
from authorities who always say, nay,
to be allowed to pray,
to weigh our own mind,
to play

Life IS a search for all these things

(c) Anthony North, May 2008