When I was in high school, my Judo instructor once told me that "all work and no play makes Adam a dull boy." It rings true to me now, but at the time I didn't really know what he meant. Every so often, I run into something along the same vein, such as the following excerpt from Eric Hoffer's diary.

"Idealists never weary of decrying capitalism for its trivial motivation. Yet a discrepancy between trivial motives and weighty consequences is an essential trait of human uniqueness and is particularly pronounced in the creative individual. Not only in the marketplace and n the battlefield but also in the world of thought and imagination, men who set their hearts on toys often accomplish great things. The idealists prize seriousness and weightiness. Let them go to the animal kngdom! Animals are deadly serious."

Many of the greatest inventions of mankind started out as toys. In China, there were tops with feathers attached that flew when spun. The wheel was most likely first incarnated as a child's toy. The list goes on.

Reflecting on my work, I find that I am too serious. I push and push to get the next feature out, never taking time to experiment, to play. Many of the brightest programmers I've met enjoy a good game of poker, while I avoid it like the plague. To me it is indeed trivial, meaningless, a waste of time.

I wonder if I can be more playful and actually let go and enjoy a game of poker. Perhaps I can go further than that -- not only enjoying it but embracing it whole heartedly, though I know it's just a game. If I could learn to do that, perhaps I could learn to be more playful when coding, not always taking the most direct route to the solution.