you are probably wondering where i’d disappeared and angry about not being kept in the loop about my absence or my change in publishing cadence. i’m apologetic for that.

what i’m not apologetic for is the actual hibernation from creation. because i believe the magic in my madness was fading and i want us both to be on the bleeding edge of insanity. i wanted to rekindle that fire 🔥

there is a precipice where possibilities are piled up like rocks atop each other balancing precariously. on this edge i meditated upon the future of this adventure of play. what are we doing? where are we going? why are we playing?

together forever?

why would we continue this adventure, one without destination or direction? why would we walk together? and for how long? whatever direction and destination we walk toward, whatever duration we walk together for, the commitment to each other is key.

so this issue will be the last i’ll be writing as a free letter. i’ll henceforth be writing a paid newsletter which will be daily posts like you’ve been used to. as well as a weekly curated letter of playful prompts, games, exercises and videos.

so we’re going to invest time, money and effort together in this relationship and if you want to commit up front, you’re welcome to sign up for the newsletter. you also have the choice of joining a cohort based course on play, starting soon and i’ll be opening access to a discord channel next week as well. let me know if you're interested or not.

let's play!

just hit reply to this mail and type 'let's play!' if you want to continue receiving mails from me (free or paid). if you don't reply, i'll assume you don't want to continue and will unsubscribe you. i'm using this opportunity to purge this email list before we jump on this new leg of our adventure. it's time for us both to commit to this game if we're going to take this to the next level. here's more info on what's in store ahead. hope to see you on the other side...

enter the playpen

joy is our default state of mind. period. and play is the way to get there. butwe have forgotten how to enjoy without reason, like children can. that’s why we are creating this kindergarten for adults. to get you startedhere’s a 9 day cohort based course across 3 phases - stop, rewind and play.y…

reddy2Goreddy2Go

it’s a common practice to name toys as a kid. a teddy bear wasn’t just another teddy bear. it was my teddy bear and i'd rather have mine than any one else's even if it was a brand new one.

This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless. I must fire my rifle true.
Rifleman’s Creed

replace the gun with your favorite toy and you’ll feel the same sentiment. i don’t remember what my teddy bear was called but i do remember it having a name.

tools or toys?

as adults we stop playing with toys and we start playing with tools instead. whether it’s heavy machinery or digital software, tools are an adult’s idea of a toy. maybe we’ve forgotten that though?

tools induce stress
toys inspire bliss

imagine if you could reframe your tools as your toys and thus eradicate stress from your use of it. it’s not easy, but is dead simple really. just think of it as a toy.

everytime you refer to it as a tool, correct yourself and address it as your toy. this is my note taking toy. this is my toy for writing. this toy helps me calculate percentages when i am doing my taxes.

try this reframe for a couple of weeks before it settles in and you don’t need to catch yourself every single time. think about how it feels when you hear the word toy ring in your head vs the usage of the word tool.

my name is…

nobody had to tell you to personalize your toys as a child. but i’m here having to tell you to personalize your tools..err toys today.

my three constant companions are my phone, tablet (iPad) and laptop. which i affectionately call Pappu, Tabu and Lappu. not my imaginative best. but extremely effective at making every task tackled using them feel like they’re there to help me.

and a name comes with a persona. Pappu is playful and distracting and all over the place, so i’m not expecting focused movement when she’s with me. she's exciting and there's never a dull moment with her around.

Tabu is a specialist at seduction and enraptures me into watching movies and binge watching seasons for hours. i can definitely get lost in time when i’m with her.

Lappu is a work horse. she knows how to get me cranking and channelizes my attention to things that will make me happier in the long run. she always has my higher goals in mind, even at the expense of instant gratification.

even my trusty steel mug in which i drink coffee and cocoa during the day and green tea through the evening has a name - MM (mug munde). he's cold as steel and tough as nails and reminds me of myself.

neither the name nor the associated persona is vital to the task or game at hand. but i think it is the most important thing in the world. it makes me feel like i’m not alone in this. i’m assured of a certain energy by invoking the persona associated with the name.

if we’re going to spend our lives working with these tools or rather playing with these toys, would you not want to get to know them better? let’s make friends with our toys today 🧸

btw, i just wrote this entire post so i could crowd source this query: what should i call my new e-ink tablet and my back scratcher?

i was in my teens when the hippie haven in the Himalayas was on it’s last legs. the Woodstock vibes were slowly crawling back into the woodwork. the times were changing but i still got one last good hit of those good vibes.

Charles Sobhraj didn’t kill the merry vibes. the world just decided there’s more to life than the love of love. but what happened to me? i lost all sensation of love or hate and was lost in the limbo of indifference.

love to hate

while hate is greatly vilified in the public eye, it’s also generously applied by the same public. so is there really such a great difference between the two?

hate is a ferocious energy that channels all the passion and channelises it in to destroyed the other. amusingly enough it ends up destroying oneself too in the process.

and i loved to hate. hated school. hated rules. hated tutors. hated family. hated friends. hated everything around me. why so much hate you might ask? maybe i’d fallen in love with hate.

or maybe it was my body’s way of recovering from the heavy dose of barbiturates, i’d been prescribed as a child. suffering a few epileptic seizures apparently get you a gate pass to her high as a kite even before i got into kindergarten.

regardless, all that hate eventually met it’s comeuppance with good ol’ mary jane. and all was well in the universe again as i hopped to the hills to dance with the angels (both earthly and heavenly). it’s actually quite improbable to tell the difference between the two.

then there was indifference

if mary jane taught me to love, lady heroin taught me the elite way of indifference. it’s another thing completely to experience the rarified air of indifference from the fiery pits of passionate fire.

this mind space was mellow. even yellow. i didn’t feel the desire to fight for what i thought was right. in fact the list of things to care about grew shorter and eventually there was nothing, and no one to care about.

if there ever is a rock bottom, you’ll find it in these barren lands of carelessness. not caring for one self. not caring for others. not caring for the world. not caring for the little dog that lived down the lane. it’s a cold day when you reach these shores. and it was a while before i left these lands.

where are we today?

i’m here today to play and slay. the killer of bad vibes and keeper of good vibes. i’m celebrating my adventures. i’m dancing with the earth. staring at the skies. screaming at the dreams that show up like murky meerkats.

there’s no purpose to this game. i’m indifferent to the ways of the world yet caring for those that walk on it. uncaring for ambition and goals yet mindful of every game i play.

how will i know i’ve found what i’m looking for if i don’t know what i want? does it matter though? cuz all you need is love ♥

according to Wikipedia, ‘Serendipity’ is an unplanned fortunate discovery. it is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery. of allowing for chance finds, and accepting that what is found is not necessarily what was being looked for.

it’s everyone’s favorite word right now and exciting to experience. more so in the current atmosphere of pandemic induced fear and uncertainty. finding fond and deep insights from random encounters on the interwebs is a magical experience.

the keyword here is fortunate. nobody wants unpleasant things happening to them. but what if what we consider unpleasant is the best thing that could possibly happen to us at this point in time?

old man and the horse

in all probability you’ve heard this story before, but in case you haven’t, here’s a gist.

when an old man begets misfortune, the people of the village offer their sympathies. but the old man only shrugs it off with a ‘who knows if it’s good or bad?’ i’d imagine he’d have used this emoji 🤷🏻‍♂️ of the conversation was happening over a group chat 💬

as misfortune upon misfortune befalls him, he has nothing more to say to the people showering sympathy but the same words ‘who knows if it’s good or bad?’

when the tide changes and the old man receives a truckload of good fortune, the villagers are eager to show their appreciation and cheer the old man. to which he again repeats his oft spoken phrase ‘who knows if it’s good or bad?’ 🤷🏻‍♂️

the villagers are flummoxed by the old man’s statements and are left scratching their heads as to why the old man says the same thing regardless of the circumstances. why do you think?

Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath. Who knows where it ends?
Tao Te Ching

safety and danger

so if we can’t really be sure if what happens is good or bad fortune, then how do we identify serendipity from… wait! what’s it’s opposite?

isn’t it strange that we spend our lives looking forward to random chance good fortune, while closing ourselves to random chance misfortune? of course not. because who wants misfortune? and of course that takes us back to the previous section and our old man.

if you dive deeper into this, modern man has built entire civilisations and empires to protect us from the randomness of nature’s jungle. where every second might bring random opportunities and dangers. we’ve successfully hidden ourselves from nature’s magic (who knows if it’s good or bad?)

and yet, here we are, seeking the same magic of chance from the concrete jungles we’ve created. where millions of uniquely different minds and bodies hustle about just seconds away from a chance encounter. smaller towns and villages offer limited possibilities so we see migration towards the larger cities.

now that we have the interwebs, we’ve opened up a new wilderness; the virtual jungle. another avenue for randomness to manifest and offer the infinite possibility of random chance encounters (who knows if it’s good or bad?)

i find it so amusing that we’ve built civilisation to hide from the jungles of yore and take refuge in safety and certainty. and we still crave that magic of danger and uncertainty. everyone wants to experience a breath taking moment but no one wants to be chased by a sabre toothed tiger.

so am i still searching for serendipity? for many years of my life, i traveled constantly, met so many different people, played so many differing roles, spoke various languages, hopped between the lowest and the highest strata of society. every minute was magical. every moment was ripe with opportunity and filled with danger. if you want the good, you gotta be open to the bad. then again, who knows which is which. what if what you think is a bug, is actually a feature?

and it’s a miracle i’m alive today, who knows if that’s good or bad?  

it’s very hard for people to digest purposeless play. and all the badgering gets me second guessing. do i really have a grandiose goal being all this irreverent play?

when one’s ideology is pushed, there are only two possible outcomes. one, it crumbles or two, it solidifies. personally, the more i’m pushed, the brighter i shine. so today i was happy to reinforce my belief behind purposeless play by choosing three verbs instead of nouns. i’m not doing this with a purpose, but this is what i’m doing with a passion.

inspire

i hate this word. it makes me feel all important and hoity toity. like i’m some damn lighthouse who’s very presence inspires and guides others to find their way in the darkness.

i’m a narcissist, so i shower enough love and attention on myself as it is. sure, y’all are welcome to love me, worship me and place me on a pedestal. i’d soak that up without batting an eyelid or even the slightest hint of a blush. but i’m not here to build an army of stans.

the real reason why i don’t like that word is because it fails to pull its weight when it really counts. inspiration is (just) a spark. it’s designed to get the fire started. not to keep it going.

most of us today are constantly dependent on inspiration like a drug to keep us going. it’s not only going to get you addicted, it’ll also make you dependent on others to inspire you. you forfeit the greatest resource you could ever tap into.

your own inner self. i don’t want that inner self to be burnt out by your abuse of inspiration, whether it’s from me or others. which is why i’m here to remind you that if you get that 1% inspiration hit from me, you gotta push out that 99% playspiration yourself.

incite

there’s so much negative energy in the world. and people thrive on negative energy. it’s easier to get people to hate each other than it is to love each other. i can see why negativity gets a bad rep but i can also see beyond that.

it is a travesty to disrespect energy; positive or negative. fire is the energy that brings life to us all. it can be creative or destructive. it can heal or it can hurt. so i don’t see energy as negative or positive. when i see it as negative, it just means i’m incapable of handling it and thus will only burn myself when i try.

but it’s only when i learn to wield the flame, that i realise, what made man unique in the animal kingdom. not the opposable thumb, not the ability to use and leverage tools but the ability to dance with fire.

this is a powerful and dangerous energy, but i choose to play with it anyway. there’s so much in this world regardless. and so many people are being hurt by it anyway. so i will play with it. and incite you with this energy to play.

infect

if the previous ‘i’ got a little dark, this is where it gets fun again. probably not the right word in current circumstances. but then again fun is infectious and what we need, what the world needs is a pandemic of fun.

it’s not about the products i’m going to make that will gamify your life, or the services i’ll offer that will bring the bounce back in your step. it’s about the spirit of play that you get infected by.

and don’t just keep it to yourself. spread that joy. share that delight. spark that fun. infect your world with the spirit of play. this isn’t a one many army. this isn’t a centralised concerted attack against the adult kingdom by an erstwhile juvenile brat.

it’s each one of us flirting with the spirit of play and exploring how far we can push this. how much fun can we have, before we call a time out? it’s only a struggle if you try to pull this off alone. together, it’s a breeze. life is a multiplayer game. let’s rock this playground like there’s no tomorrow and yet play the game like it’ll never end. are you with me?

twenty odd years ago, i left family, friends, homies, and home town to go to the Himalayas. that mystical mountain range which is the abode of the gods.

but it was less a pilgrimage and more a candy run. i just wanted to get high and supply was getting slow in my hometown, so i just upped and skipped town.

soul child. sole child

the reason we all (want to) get high is to touch the divine. feel that state of being that is in fact our right, but is always elusive and just out of grasp.

i ran to the hills with the desire to escape the mundane and the routine of the world we inhabit. i spent my days in a daze, travelling with friends and strangers with equal ease. alternating between total luxury and abject poverty.

unsure if i’d reached the divine, but sure that i’d escaped the mundane. my life was an obfuscated orgy of experiences. as involved and engaged as i was, with people and surroundings, i still felt alone.

was i disconnected or was unconnected a better word? the higher i got, the more distant i felt from everyone around. despite the fact that i felt more connected to everyone while i was high as a kite.

could it be because everyone felt like a part of me?

born alone. die alone

i don’t know about twins (unless you count me being a Gemini) so i believe we’re all born alone and will die alone. even if we have people sitting by our sides as we depart. and even if we consider being held upside and spanked by a doctor as a collective birth experience.

i’m imagining the womb experience to be much like my drugged out state of feeling connected, yet alone. our earliest experiences are visceral and within a void like physical cocoon with no contact with anyone else.

our last moments are quite similar if you consider dementia disconnecting us from recognising loved ones. thus even if we’re with others, we may be just playing along and not as deeply engaged with life around us.

maybe age induced memory loss is a feature not a bug, to induce detachment and ease one onto the process of death? so we’re alone once again, like in our days in the womb.

above alone. below alone

emotionally speaking, when we’re at our peak, we’re alone. sure, we’re in a celebratory mood and are partying to share that joy and victory. but nobody else can experience that moment but us.

likewise in the worst of situations, we’re all alone. sure, friends would try to help and support us, but nobody else is in that exact slump so, it’s on us to accept that sole responsibility.

so if i’m alone during both the peaks and trenches of life, shouldn’t i be getting comfortable with this solitude? the advantage of solitude offers a sense of calm that helps me better survive both the good and the bad of life.

alone = all is one

since we live in a world where planning plays a greater role than serendipity, it’s on us to make time for ourselves. plan your alone time and think of it as soul time. a time when you are with your soul.

you’ll be surprised that the more time you spend alone, the more connected you grow to others around; strangers or loved ones. and this includes animals, plants and the earth in general.

sure, there are a number of spiritual practices that might get you on this path. but have you forgotten the way of play? think of solo games you can play by yourself during soul time? just remember, no cellphone, this is the time to phone your self 😆

you’re probably wondering where my Himalayan adventure fits into all this. well, today i don’t need to run to the hills to find myself. the hills have come to me, because i’ve found myself.

when was the last time you wondered? not worry, but wonder. isn’t that something we’ve forgotten as adults? something that’s been replaced by your regular run of the mill, garden variety worry.

if you’re wondering why, there’s hope for you yet. if you’ve already dismissed this even before you read ahead, you’re exactly the kind of person i’m worried for. the kind that forgotten the wonder of wondering.

wonderlust

every child knows what it is like to live in wonder. to be constantly curious about what lies ahead. beyond the grasp of one’s vision for the future. it’s easy to dismiss a childlike wonder as ignorance manifested as curiosity.

which would explain why adults don’t wonder. because we have all the answers. there’s an app for that. Google has single handedly helped literally every adult on the planet feel all knowing.

but i don’t think ‘knowing’ needs to detract us from wondering. have we actually become impotent? strong word you might say. but think about it. what would you say if you felt no desire to engage in intercourse of any kind, be it sexual or conversational.

we crave connection in one form or another. we lust for it. we long for it. pine for it, when we don’t get it. why then don’t we feel that same desire, drive and lust for life’s secrets?

don’t be a bookworm

be a wonder worm. literacy has meant that everyone who knows a few dozen alphabets can read and discover for themselves the knowledge of the ages. if  that wasn’t enough, we have the internet which has opened up the possibility of accessing anything, anytime, anywhere.

reading is the easiest way to use the understanding gained by other thinkers from the past and the present, to make intellectual progress. and we’re definitely seeing examples of this as people are growing in their quest for knowledge.

but what if we are stunting growth by feeding curiosity instead of causing growth by starving one of knowledge? Steve Jobs wanted us to ‘stay hungry, stay foolish’ and i wonder if that’s what made him the man he was. his capacity for wonder. what else set him apart in an environment where probably everyone was smarter and better read than him?

reddy player one on Twitter

write a book before you read it

this seems silly but the next time you want to learn something by reading about it, write everything you know about it first. then write everything you don’t know about it. know what you know. know what you don’t know. and now, spend time wondering about it until you’re generate insights seemingly out of thin air.

only when you’ve gone through all three steps, and experienced the hunger for knowledge eating away at your insides, allow yourself the luxury of reading, listening or watching other thinker’s ideas, insights and study.

the same can be done before you start studying an online course. first, collect your own thoughts, insights and conduct your own experiments. second, search and explore by yourself with the Internet’s best and worst resources. third, collect all relevant data and create your own course. and only when all of that is completed, should you allow yourself to enroll in a course online; self-paced or cohort based.

where is the wonder?

you may assume that science has all the answers. if there’s anything scientists thrive on, it’s questions. and questions are symptomatic of wonder.

The problem is not people being uneducated. The problem is that people are educated just enough to believe what they have been taught, and not educated enough to question anything from what they have been taught.
Richard Feynman

before you seek to satiate your desires, savor the sweet taste of hunger. before you satiate that thirst for knowledge, savor the wonder that set you on that quest.

i’ve witnessed the birth of over four generations of puppies and kittens. i’ve played almost every role in their lives from midwife to undertaker. it’s always magical to witness either extreme; birth or death.

but it’s the in between that’s the hard part. that’s what we call life. that’s the space where we play. and the game of life is simple the best. but what happens when we need a timeout?

why take a break?

easier said than done. and society doesn’t encourage solitude as a feature. so we’re left with loneliness as a bug. in the ancient Indian age hierarchy, every individual spends the last few years of their life in solitude, seeking and making peace with the divine.

all spiritual practices offer some form of solitary practise as method of refinement. not confinement as has become a method of punishment with systems of incarceration. but we live in a world of granular subtlety and nuance today where extremes are harder to accept.

so we need to make some time to be alone, without the world calling us bad or sad players. alone time is hard because we have forgotten how to find comfort in solitude. when the truth is that we spent the first 9 months of our lives in complete solitude.

darkness is soothing

sun is yang energy. moon is yin energy. sun is bright and exuberant. moon is soft and soothing. in ancient times, the night provided succour from the heat of the day.  so too do we seek stillness, silence, coolness and comfort in the darkness. from the high energy activity in the light of day.

all my little puppies and kittens would crawl up in the warmth of their mother’s bosom when exhausted after their play. later when they stopped feeding they would still find comfort in the embrace of each other.

not only would they find comfort in contact, but they would also snuggle their faces into each other so as to avoid the light hitting their eyelids as they slept. if they didn’t have each other, they would curl into a ball themselves to remind themselves of the safety of the womb.

back to the womb

that security blanket is something we all need from time to time, when the going gets tough or the game gets exhausting. but we often make the mistake of placing that burden on others. we outsource that need for security on others, without taking responsibility for it ourselves.

it’s not difficult really. and we all know how to do it. we all find ourselves retreating into a shell for safety, warmth and comfort. but we’ve forgotten how to do it.

whenever my dog would get into a scuffle with other dogs and return hurt or injured, she would refuse sympathy. she would appreciate my love but would also spend time by herself licking her wounds, healing in the comfort of a cozy corner she chose for herself.

the characteristics of that safe space, that healing space, that shelter from the storm are common to all creatures. small, confined space which feels like the warm  embrace of the womb. cool and comfortable, not hot and excitable to engage the parasympathetic system of rest and relaxation. quiet and silent to allow your own to surface, so you can resolve them through contemplation.

tada… pillow fort!

and so i suggest to y’all the simple, humble and delightful pillow fort. just throw together a bunch of pillows and a blanket over it and you’ve got yourself a cave, fort, tepee or what have you.

while it’s construction maybe simple, it’s significance is profound. slide in, cuddle up and close yourself to the world. you are safe. you are protected. you are all you need to be. enjoy the hibernation. and come out like a butterfly from the chrysalis that you build around yourself.

the corporate world has tested gamification experiments but hasn’t quite made a dent in industry standard processes of project management. even in the personal development world of getting things done, it hasn’t quite taken off.

it’s not that we haven’t yet found that sweet spot. i think we’re just barking up the same tree. games are as much work, because work after all is a game.

(work) life is a game

the game of landing a job, staying in the game lest someone else take your job, overtaking others to stay ahead of the game, and gaming the game to catapult yourself into the position of a game maker. only to realise that you still got gamed.

the career game is about rising up the ranks from a position of slavery to being able to rule over the entire kingdom.

Worker bees can leave. Even drones can fly away. The Queen is their slave.
Chuck Palahniuk

but this isn’t a philosophical post on personal liberation or freedom from the system. this is an effort to answer why gamification rituals aren’t enough to invoke the spirit of play into your workspace.

games are stressful

while games are fun to play, they can also induce the same stress that work does. and that isn’t a bug. it’s designed to excite and challenge you.

which is generally a good thing, but if you’re substituting the macro game of work for the micro game of your gamified project or task, you’re not making a radical difference.

you may not feel the stress of competing to override your colleagues and land that promotion. but you’re still stressing over the leaderboard where the competition is less intense but more obvious.

and since it’s a finite game with tangible outcomes, you’re still going to feel the peaks and troughs of victory and defeat. is this really worth then to shift focus from the macro game to the micro game?

play is the way

play on the other hand can be surreally successful without dependence on competition to stoke passion or victory to elicit excitement.

let’s call this play-ification. it’s not that i’m feeling uninspired, i just want to stick it to gamification. ok fine, couldn’t think of anything better.

let’s not depend on the benefits of playing the game en route to victory. instead think of how you can inject joy into the moment. right here. right now. regardless of your task at hand. regardless of the (un)expected outcome.

let joy lead you by the hand on this path of play. and i mean the kind of joy that would excite your 5-year old self. that’s your parameter for finding delight in every task/action you do at work.

• maybe you code in an easter egg into your otherwise staid banking application
• maybe you carry an inflatable tub to work so you can soak while reading the quarterly reports
• maybe you can play a game of tag with the parking attendant before you get into the elevator, every morning (even if you drive a Porsche)

the constraint of satisfying your 5-year old self means it involves silly, irreverent, physical and non digital play. limit the play to 2 minute bursts of activity interspersed across your day. if you’re feeling lonely, here’s a cheat code to draw others into your game without prep or plan - play a prank! (lemme know how that goes 😉)

if you can’t find any apparent reason to do any of this, you’re well on your way, my friend! go forth and play 🕹

play. play. play. all day long i think of play. that’s the proof that i’m still an adult. if i was a child, i’d be playing all day long not thinking or theorizing about it.

if you assume that play is all about fun and games, you’re right. if you think play is only fun and games, you’re wrong. play is also our default state of action to learn through.

transforming learning today

there’s a concerted and dedicated effort underway to transform the future of learning, from the traditional model to a new and novel model of instruction and learning.

online learning, be it self paced or cohort based is making it’s presence felt. and the absence of the traditional education model (thanks to the pandemic) has only made the shift easier.

instructors are creating courses that match subject matter with peer and community based interaction. this encourages exploration and offers a peek into each other’s unique journey of learning.

mentors offer an intermediate layer of engagement which is neither peer nor instructor. a bridge between extremes of knowledge acquisition. the cohort based course model is well received and is offering encouraging results in both retention and learning.

where’s the fun?

with the increase in interaction and engagement between peers, and mentors, fun is bound to increase. online break out rooms in between live sessions with the instructors offer a space to relate and regale each other with anecdotes along the way.

but i’m still not satisfied with this method of infusing fun into the learning experience by just increasing interaction. it still reminds me of the traditional education system where the playground is an afterthought and forms a minor aspect of the larger system.

play and fun isn’t a necessary evil that we look to incorporate into the pure and holy quest of learning. rather play is the way. learning is a happy side effect of play. unexpected by the players and therefore learning becomes effortless.

playground not library

knowledge is the treasure that all students seek. and the library is that repository of knowledge. the library is the centre, the sanctum sanctorum of our temples of learning. the professors and instructors are the high priests and priestesses.

so is the playground then just a place to find respite from the stresses of the path of learning? this framing is accepted by both traditionalists and modernists. but what if we looked at the playground as the centre?

a space for experimentation and irreverent play regardless of the value of the principles and techniques being used. a space where peers, seniors and instructors are all equal as they play together. a space where there is a no goal and no expectation of outcomes to be achieved.

this goalless playground is nature’s learning grounds since the beginning of time. before there were institutions of learning. before there were libraries of knowledge. it is in this pathless land, that wisdom reigns. yes, that elusive virtue which is barely even spoken of in the halls of learning, where knowledge is king.

play is the way

so if you’re really looking to ‘transform’ the educational experience, it’s gotta be more than just slapping a camera and taking it online. more than just facilitating peer to peer participation.

it is about shifting the focus back to play NOT learning.

i don’t want to make learning more fun. i want to return to the state of play where learning is a pleasant surprise. and paradoxically you’ll find your learning has become more efficient, effective and most importantly effortless.

if you’re willing to bet on this, build your next course around a playground, not a library!

the eternal fountain of youth has entranced many treasure hunters through history. but it’s closer than you think and easier to grasp than you may imagine.

i’m past 40, and of course i’m growing old compared to what i was yesterday. but i don’t feel old. i’m still physically and mentally capable, and i’m hell in a tea cup for any young punk who even thinks of rubbing me the wrong way.

but none of these attributes make me younger than my years. i’ve even retired and my days are spent lounging in an easy chair like any old man, surrounded my cats, birds and plants. then what is it that keeps me magically young; carefree and charismatic?

the young make history
the old talk about history

magic of the moment

i don’t know about the esoteric magic practices from the ancient past or the parlor tricks and sleight of hand that still enthrall TV viewers worldwide. but i’m a wizard of the present.

i can see all of mankind’s history and future in this moment of supreme reality. this moment of infinite possibility. i can dance between the two polarities and play with the present like any child worth his salt.

if you’re wondering how to live in the moment, and you pick up a bunch of self help books (autocorrect turned that into a self hemp book 😆) you’re surely moving in the opposite direction.

the moment you start reading a book expecting to learn something from that experience which will transform you, you’re living in the future. so much for the present moment. the same holds true for any podcast, youtube video or learning experience.

the playful don’t hope for a better future, a better version of their self. they’re too busy celebrating the present moment in all it’s glory. and that’s how you know  if you’re in the moment or not. that sense of tremendous gratitude and joy of celebration for what is.

not regret over what was or hope for what can be.

objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear

the past always has a way of catching up with you. in fact it’s never far away as you like to believe. it’s always breathing down your back like a good ghost, haunting you till you die.

you can run, but you can’t hide. well, you can but the past will always catch up with you. and that’s a feature not a bug. it’s only when the past catches up and grabs you by the neck or balls, that you’re finally free to live in the present.

have you dealt with the past? or are you still dwelling in the past? the past is yours to jettison like ballast to rise from the depths to the surface where you can once again feel the lightness of being, instead of being weighed down by darkness of the past.

but the past doesn’t have to always scare you. revisiting the past and reveling in nostalgia is a warning sign that you’re growing old. and growing old is not a chronological shift but a displacement from the present.

real-time realization of one’s age might be a strange pill to digest, but you could be young in age and old in presence, and vice versa. all of that is on you. right here. right now.

the fountain of youth is not a place, but a time. and that time is now. let’s play!

and if you’re wondering what i’m making, it’s not a product or a service to benefit all of mankind. all i’m making is the most of this moment. and that my friends, is fucking history already… 🤣

the lockdown in my town has been extended by another two weeks. the mood of everyone around is dull and morose. and why wouldn’t it be, nobody likes being stuck at home. but i couldn’t be bothered.

in fact i’ve barely moved from my bunker in a year now save a few hikes into the hills. yet, i’m happier than i’ve ever been. what’s my secret?

the best place on earth

the best place on earth is actually the best time. there are two times every single day that are as magical as the most picturesque places.

sunrise. this magical space and time is accessible to anyone, anywhere. unless of course you’re in solitary confinement in a high security prison. in which case i’m sure you wouldn’t be reading this, so i’m not gonna bother about you.

sunset. this is equally magical an experience and allows you to reflect at the day gone by as the sun waltzes behind the horizon. you don’t have to be in a high security prison though. just nose deep in a zoom call and you’d miss this. this post is for you.

these are two divine experiences that are available to you every single day. lockdown or no lockdown. but are you making the best of this opportunity now that you don’t have the excuse of making haste in the morning to rush to work? do you realise that you don’t have to be buried in an office cubicle with white incandescent lights like in a mortuary.

fly imaginairy

close your eyes. lie down flat on your back. take a few deep breaths and relax into a soft stupor like trance. as you zone into that lull of a baby’s sleep, drift your imagination into your favorite or desired vacation spot.

picture every detail around you. if you’re at a beach, feel the sand beneath your feet. the wind rustling through the palm leaves above you. the scent of the ocean as the soft spray reaches you. the roar of the waves as it hits the shore.

it doesn’t matter how poor you think your imagination is, it can only get better the more you play this game. you can explore different places, terrains, experiences or stay true to the one experience that you resonate with.

start with less than 10 minutes (as little as 2 min) and slowly build up to 20 minutes. use accessories to support your experience. you could place a straw hat on your head as you lie down with eyes closed imagining it to be the beach, and the hat is protecting you from the sun. a fan directed at you will give you the experience of feeling the cool mountain breeze as you lie in a hammock next to your log cabin, high up in the hills.

as children we could imagine magical lands, colorful castles, mighty dragons and beauteous characters with effortless ease. as adults we look at their world of imagination as make believe. unreal. imaginary. but take another look at the delight on their faces while they’re playing that game. tell me that’s unreal.

what are you waiting for? take off on flights of fancy and enjoy the lockdown life. you’ve never had it better. no visa. no passport. no tickets. just lie back on your magic carpet and…

the rosy picture that welcomes you into a relationship is not what it is once you’re inside. so what do you do? pack up and leave or never enter into one in the first place.

it’s strange that love is assumed to be pretty and pious when the best love stories are all gory and result in one or both dying (often a macabre affair).

coitus and combat are never far apart. animals mating can appear violent and traumatic to the onlooker. but hey, if you’re a voyeur, you asked for it. even the courting rituals can be quite confusing to humans bred in the modern ways.

we’re never far from our primal nature, no matter how we cocoon ourselves in civilisation. love, lust, aggression, violence are innate and they demand to be expressed passionately; your social graces be damned.

we are still fighting to this day beneath closed doors; sometimes passive aggressively, sometimes with physical violence. if you’re failing to find love through fighting, you’re just doing it wrong. here’s why you should fight to save and grow your relationship

talk to me

we are distracted creatures in this modern world. it’s hard for anyone, included loved ones to get your attention. your partner is struggling to compete against mega corporations pouring in billions to steal your precious attention.

your phone pings while at dinner and you can sneak a peek with a flick of your wrist. the tv playing in the background is constantly updating you on what’s going on in the world around.

small talk is easy to engage in while distracted. mastering that is part of becoming an adult. real talk is hard to engage in while thinking of your work. emotional engagement cannot be multitasked with anything else.

so if you want your partners undivided attention; you grab the balls or the neck! and we have a fight! now you have each other’s undivided attention. all that yelling brings you into the moment, ears holding onto every word spoken, adrenaline pumping through raises your awareness to superhuman levels. in that moment, only the two of you exist. nothing else matters.

this is the space that you’ve been fighting for. that eye of the storm where your united and can finally communicate all that you’ve been avoiding. if you really want to save your relationship, or even better grow it, seek out this space actively.

don’t talk to me

the passive aspect of fighting is no less scary. silence can also be violence. if overtly aggressive expression can be hurtful, suppressed emotions can fester and harm just as much.

this form of fighting might be even more dangerous because you may often not even know that you’re fighting. and even when you do, you don’t want to risk shifting into the other end of the spectrum. which is just a matter of time.

even when you’re not talking to each other, you’re actually shouting into the void begging to be understood. what’s unsaid can speak volumes. but who’s listening? because it’s easy to get distracted when nobody is yelling and screaming and throwing things around (sometimes at you).

fighting this way allows for easy escape, from engagement and intense involvement in the moment together. but don’t be fooled. the tension can cause as much pain, suffering and hurt. it weighs on you like a stone tied to your neck.

and it only gets worse. the guilt grows heavier by the day. just because you’re not blaming each other doesn’t make it less painful because you’re not ready to forgive either your partner or yourself.

so instead of pretending to avoid fighting or exploding into violent fighting, let’s explore a middle path of fighting for love.

back in the day, Indian queens had a special room in the palace called the ‘kop grah’ literally translated as anger house. this should totally be a thing. imagine a section of the house cordoned off for anger.

that’s where you sit when you want your space to reflect on the cause for your anger and this also makes it clear to your partner that there’s something amiss and it’s time to disconnect from distractions and reconnect with each other.

it can also be the space where to go in to yell at the top of your voice and break something (maybe just hit a punching bag with your partner’s picture on it) to experience the catharsis of primal expression.

this is just the beginning for you to accept your fighting instincts. what they’re trying to communicate to you is the fact that your partner and you are askew or out of sync. hit that refresh button and get back in sync and reinforce your unity. or even make a united decision to part ways amicably. fight for love. fight for peace.✌🏽♥️

the overarching narrative today is that fighting is to be frowned upon. the world firmly believes that the modern perception of civilisation has saved the world from savagery and incessant combat between tribes.

yet we see conflict and wars across the globe. they’re covert instead of overt. they’re proxy wars instead of full declaration of war. is the world really more peaceful than it was a hundred or a thousand years ago?

childish combat

we look at children fighting as silly and frivolous.

oh.. stop fighting over toys, i’ll get you another one. it’s just a game, don’t fight about it.

funnily enough, that’s exactly what we’re doing as adults. fighting over land, property and status games. the stakes are now higher than it was in the playground and we’re dying in the process.

back to childhood combat. you’ll notice that children gravitate towards fighting. when they are not chaperoned, they grapple and wrestle and kick and punch each other. uninterrupted they soon find the boundaries of pain, both physical and emotional. they learn how much it can themselves as well as others.

but if we don’t allow this explorative experience to unfold organically, we’re leaving the child ill equipped to deal with aggression, violence, bullying, and domination.

fighting is serious play

a common accepted trope is that adult fighting is serious business. whether it is combat sports or military battle. i think it is serious play.

cats or rather kittens spend close to 16 hours a day play fighting as they grow up. the constant combat teaches them interpersonal skills, hones their survival instincts, and sets the stage for discovering their position in the social hierarchy.

children in indigenous cultures benefit from the same experiences as they grow up. the culture of combat is an integral part of the rite of passage of growing into an adult. the child has to prove his worth, both to himself and to the tribe.

which brings another vital aspect to the conversation. tribe. community.

we fight to live together

whether as a tribe or a nation, we live and fight together against the enemy. but who is the enemy?

the enemy is sometimes a construct designed to unite the tribe. sometimes an external entity, sometimes an internal conflict. regardless, nothing can unite the community better than a fight.

the fight for survival is an equally potent fight that brings everyone together. because of unity in strength. because we’re social creatures. because community is our default state of being. we’re not designed to survive alone.

either against an external enemy or against the internal demons of loneliness. but it’s harder to connect and stay connected with a common cause. and nothing rallies people towards a common cause than the clarion call of war.

war and play

i don’t believe in peace. it’s an inert state of being which is ethereal and cannot be held for any period of time. so if we don’t want to be at war, then we need to be at play. actively and enthusiastically.

exactly as we would be in a state of war. active, energised, and involved. so too in the state of play. this is the only way to sustain the mystical peace that we’re looking for.

when two states fight, they at each other, tooth and nail. militarised combat reigns of course. but social distrust and hatred is obvious as well. economic boycott of trade is the norm. there is an orchestrated assault from all fronts.

if we want peace, then we must aim for the same spirited aggression through play. by actively playing in all spheres; trade and commerce, military games, sports, and cultural exchanges.

spirited, feisty and primal

children engage in roughhousing with utmost seriousness. every aspect of the being is involved; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. even spiritual, yes. in fact this is the most important aspect where we can learn from children.

the primal and the spiritual seem at polar opposites and man has over the years developed elaborate religious rituals and social practices to bridge the divide. but the most effective method still remains coitus and combat.

for sex to come into play (pun untended), puberty has to initiate the season. but combat is prevalent at every stage and phase of life. this feisty, spirited energy is not meant to be ignored, demeaned or suppressed.

instead let us give reign to it through play. engage in battle. debates, dance offs, rap battles, good ol’ fashioned fist cuffs. do you remember rolling in the mud with a friend over something that seemed super important at the time. but you don’t remember what it was now.

what you do remember is that you were both quick to get back up, and be friends again without long drawn bouts of ‘silence is violence’ or elaborate plans of revenge drawn out to extinguish the other from one’s life.

how can you build a culture of friendly combative exploration in the playground with your playmates?

A good fight should be like a small play but, played seriously.
Bruce Lee

play is a primal act. like sex and violence. let’s look at how play is an aggressive act yet a non-violent act.

aggression is defined both as hostility and confidence. i like to think of aggression as an act of energized forward movement. it can be used to help (even heal) or to harm. only when it begins to harm does it encroach into the territory of violence.

for now i’m gonna focus on why we need to lean into aggression in order to play more animatedly.

get off your ass… and move it!

we’re all trained from childhood to act on external force. we become submissive to such forces to prevent being bullied or broken. this doesn’t have to be obvious and overt. but eventually we settle down into toeing the line and moving only when pushed or told to do so.

this is why aggression is a quality needed to initiate momentum. to get up and play. even if it is only to play by oneself. for example, how often do you hesitate to dance by yourself? and this isn’t only a physical thing. it can be a psychological challenge that needs to be overcome, like imposter syndrome.

that said, dance is the funnest way to express yourself aggressively. you can play your favorite music and aggressively move your body in space. with or without friends. with or without a partner. like Elvis says, even a wooden chair will do.

drag others in to play

it takes a higher level of aggression to invite, induce, even instigate others who are dormant into the playground. sometimes all it takes is a smile. amusing how smiling can be born of an aggressive desire to spread joy.

sometimes there are people who don’t want to play. there are also people who want to play, but are too shy to. in such cases, an aggressive and enthusiastic player in the playground serves to attract others to play.

in the playground, you often see kids physical drag others to the sandpit or the playpen to play. as adults we might be scandalised if someone were to do the same. of course that’s why liquor offers that feature without the awkwardness involved.

pushing players out!

this is a rather obvious expression of aggression from a majority perspective. physically pushing away those who are more hurtful than playful. bullies are common in most playgrounds across the world.

but how common are those that stand up to them? and effectively at that. sometimes the will maybe enough. sometimes the skill makes all the difference. in essence, the hero needs to have the aggression to chase away the bully.

the push isn’t always a physical shove. a stern and decisive no is an aggressive show that kicks then to the curb. i’m all for inclusive playgrounds where all types are welcome. but those that harm the community muse be banished till the isolation reminds them of the value of community.

the community needs aggression in creation and connection of individual members. just like we have the blazing sun scorching the earth during the day to help us grow. have you noticed any of these helpful acts of aggression in your community?  what if we could channel the violence in the community towards exercising healthy aggression?