I like Jake Dahn's comment on last week's riff about play so much I'm going to quote it in full:

· Bits and Bobs 1/6/25
  • I like Jake Dahn's comment on last week's riff about play so much I'm going to quote it in full:
    • "A buddhist flavored lens on why play is where you do your best work:
    • The phenomenon of doing your best work through play is tied up in 2 buddhist concepts.
    • Vedanā (feeling tone), and Shoshin (beginners mind[anm][ann][ano]).
    • When you're in a professional setting, you're often chasing deadlines or trying to meet some external goal. This alters the vedanā, and scopes your attention into a mode of "seriousness".
    • Similarly, when you inevitably become the resident expert [insert topic here], your collaborators rely on you to be "the person that knows the thing", you can't practice shoshin, you are forced to be the stable channel of wisdom or best practice.
    • I suspect the only way to consistently practice play during the work day is to schedule unstructured play time.
    • Make space, not plans."