The Uses of Play

Why has it become so hard to play? To be playful?

I thought about this today while singing with Emily Eagen and Onome at our weekly Moving Star session. We spent our time exploring a variety of games and songs, and I'm almost ashamed to say, it was fun.  

It is not easy to make time for improvisation, for invention that might go nowhere. It is difficult to make room for the potential to fail.

Play is the opposite of work. It has become synonymous with frivolity and wasting time. But as musicians and teaching artists, it is our bread and butter. If we can get people to play, we are halfway there. We'll talk about it (and play) during our Arts in Education class today at Juilliard. As Bobby McFerrin reminds us, "we are the luckiest people in the world - we are paid to play!"