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I recently watched a TED.com talk on the concept of PLAY. I’ve had a discussion with many friends over the past couple of years about Play, how its lacking in life for most adults. It’s inspired to share some previously unshared images, images that in my mind were created in the process of PLAY. You’ll see these images over the course of the next couple of weeks.
What is PLAY? I like the definition used in the video (I’m paraphrasing here): If DOING the activity is more important than the OUTCOME, then its probably PLAY.
This image was made at Gooseberry Falls State Park, North Shore of Lake Superior, last summer. My mission was to explore the waterfalls, in difficult and somewhat treacherous areas, during a period when the water was fairly high. I brought one filer, the Singh Ray Vari ND filter, no tripod, no camera bag. Just the bare essentials. I was going to shoot all hand held and just go shooting for the sake of shooting. I spent some time crawling and climbing about the rocks, viewing this composition and that composition. Then I turned around to notice this young boy playing up above a pool, and just below the falls. He was hunting for something. Maybe crawdads, maybe agate, or maybe he was just investigating for the love of exploration.
I could easily imagine myself has him. I was. I did this as a little boy. Strip down to the bare essentials, start exploring the tiny pools between, the spaces underneath things and experience the exhilaration of falling water. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I decided HOW I wanted to shoot and by the time I was in a position to, he had wandered off. Fearing his mother would scold him for being out there (I wouldn’t blame her), I wondered if he would be back. Then it dawned on me…THERE WAS NO WAY HE WASN’T coming back. So I waited. And sure enough a short while later he returned. To Explore. To Experience. To be amazed by EVERYTHING in front of him.
He was ready play and so was I.
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3 Comments
Last night in ki-aikido our sensei said something like 'Goals are useful for getting us in process. When achieving the goal becomes all you care about, you miss everything.'
Amy…that is so profound. I, like many, am a very task and goal oriented individual. I find I have produced some of my favorite images and indeed had the best time, when I just concentrated on having fun. Thank you for the affirmation. A good reminder.
Kimberely
Amy, I really find myself comparing this idea to “giving permission.' The goal gives us permission to start, or “getting us in process,” but its where our focus goes once we start acting…there seems to be so much to learn about the value of play…its a wowzer to me.