Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.
~Joseph Chilton Pearce

Yesterday at school, I had something unusual happen. I had set my stuff in one of the little cubicles, then I headed to the restroom real quick. When I came back, there was a young woman setting at the cubicle next to mine.

I sat down and booted up my computer, then proceeded to listen to some music while doing a bit of research. For the record, I’ve found four individuals that I’m considering contacting at this point .. and actually, hmm – random tangent, and I’ll deal with that later ^^ If you want to see the four I’ve found so far, you can check out my delicious page. They have ‘contact’ as one of their tags.


After I had been there for some time – I remember I was looking up a book on Amazon – the young woman turned to me.

“Dude, what are you doing?”

I kid you not ^^ I was referred to as ‘dude’ the entire time I helped her. I think that may be the closest I’ve come to cool-by-proxy so far in my life ;P

“I’m looking up a book and listening to music actually.”

“Could you help me? I’ve got this paper all written, but I don’t know how to end it.”

“Well .. what are your main points? In your closing, it’s usually a good idea to readdress each one to show how you arrived at the end.”

[insert details about the specifics of the paper .. that weren't all that specific].

“So, umm, what were the main points again?”

“…” … “Good question.”

She then proceeded to finish up writing out her paper in the notebook she was using.

“I guess I need to have this looked over. Dude, do you know where the writing center is at?”

Looking at the time on my lappie, I realized it’s about time for me to head off to my next class.

“Yeah – it’s out the doors over there, then up the stairs and back the other direction. Actually, I can take you by up there if you like. I’m sorta headed that way.”

So I packed up my things and then we headed out to the writing center. Out the doors and into the flow of people – as classes were changing. Through the masses and up the stairs. Down the halls that look like they lead nowhere – to the sign hanging from the ceiling proclaiming “Writing and Speech Center”. I dropped her off at the door there, and headed on to class.

What does all that have to do with play? *shrug* I found it interesting, because I’ve never had that happen before. It felt good to be able to help – but I also saw some places I could have handled the situation a bit better. I like the idea of being someone people know they can ask for help. Even if I don’t have all the answers – and I *know* I don’t – I can at least help them figure out where to find them.


And as I think about it, I think that’s how it all ties in to play – that desire to share and grow. I personally believe the fundamental nature of play is looking for ways to help these two things come about. Being the absolute best we can be does not mean that we have to be tearing down someone else. It also doesn’t mean that we can’t challenge each other – that friction helps move us along.

So go play and have some fun – it makes everything a bit brighter when you do ^_^