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Play it Forward(our guest blog for Bernie DeKoven's Deep Fun) Does the march of progress allow space for somersaults? In other words, can we PLAY toward a better condition? In each of the following quotations, the word WORK has been playfully changed to PLAY. "We need to PLAY toward developing peace in all of our thoughts, words, and actions." — William B. Gudykunst, Bridging Differences, 2003 "We need to PLAY toward a world where healthy anger is the norm and destructive anger the exception." — Jane Middelton-Moz, Boiling Point: The High Cost of Unhealthy Anger to Individuals and Society, 1999 "In order to have clarity, we need to PLAY toward seeing the world as accurately as possible." — Judith V. Jordan, Linda M. Hartling, & Maureen Walker, The Complexity of Connection, 2004 "We need to PLAY toward prevention of overwhelming stress situations that all too frequently result in mental hospitalization." — Robert Lefferts, Getting a Grant, 1978 "We need to PLAY toward ... a collective sense of meaning and significance." — Chris Hackler, Health Care for an Aging Population, 1994 "We need to PLAY toward trusting that whatever happens is 'good.'" — Dzigar Kongtrul, Light Comes Through, 2008 "By accepting the fact that all will not be pleasant at work and that we need to PLAY toward satisfaction and fun in our job, we can more readily dismiss unpleasant happenings." — Jennie Wilting, People, Patients, and Nurses, 1980 "We need to PLAY toward a society that has social policies that reflect humanitarian values." — Emelicia Mizio & Anita J. Delaney, Training for Service Delivery to Minority Clients, 1981 "We need organizational makeovers and we need to PLAY toward the change more rapidly than we have thought in the past." — Lloyd C. Williams, Business Decisions, Human Choices, 1996 "We need to PLAY toward protecting Mother Earth and all living beings." — Jane Middelton-Moz, Welcoming Our Children to a New Millennium, 1999 "We need to PLAY toward our survival as a species." — Bill G. Gooch, Lois Carrier, & John Huck, Strategies for Success, 1983 "PLAY is intrinsically satisfying, ie fulfilling; PLAY means survival; and PLAY provides a level of social connectedness to the larger community." — Samuel M. Natale & Brian M. Rothschild, Values, Work, Education, 1995 Are the altered quotations above still true? Law professor Mary Brandt Jensen reminds us that in the language of copyright law, to "perform" a work is to "recite, render, play, dance, or act it." Perhaps more of our work can be performed with a playful spirit, so as to transform our sense of duty into genuine enthusiasm.
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