play

[note #30]

from Lili Taylor’s introduction to Turning to Birds (Crown, 2025):

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who coined the definition of flow, dedicated his career to the study of play. He did so for two reasons: because the subject of play related to another of his areas of interest, creativity, and because he felt confident that play is among the most positive experience in life. Over time, he realized play was what the Greeks called an autotelic activity, meaning the whole purpose of the activity was the experience itself. He became convinced “that an experience was worth having for its own sake.”

I’m fortunate to have been able to observe, up close, the process of creating this book. Lili, of course, has been engaged with language her whole life (like all of us, only perhaps moreso). She’s not an actor who can simply parrot (pardon the pun) words in a script…the words have to mean something, have to point to all that is hidden, to say more than they seem. Her process of writing was in many ways similar to mine, and in many ways different. I found this fascinating. Lili used a lot of mind maps to keep track of her thinking, to keep track of where her mind wandered, to weave facts in with her story, which isn’t something I have ever really done. It was, as with any book, often a struggle, but this idea of play guided every word, and it shows in the joy I feel when I read it.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

7-12 sept / Orchard Lane / Red Hook, NY (ONE SPACE LEFT)

5-10 oct / Omega Institute / Rhinebeck NY (FIVE SPACES LEFT)