It’s all about playing around

Alright, so I am a bit behind the times, but I just read Terence Fitzgerald’s article on Library Journal, “All Work and No Play. I thought it was so interesting and worth reading that I wanted to share. I am all about the idea of bringing playfulness into the workplace, to foster creative thinking and problem solving. And I looove his Austrian example: famous actresses reading Victorian erotica in a funny librarian pseudo-phone sex service? Awesome! That would never, never happen in America, because we are weird puritanical people, but what a cool idea! Anyway, I think it’s something to take to heart, to keep in mind in any work place when you’re trying to solve problems—just being a little playful can open the door to great solutions.

I’m trying to keep that in mind, myself, as I’m trying to teach myself XHTML and CSS. I find myself so afraid of breaking websites that I’m hesitant to just get in there and muck my hands up, to play around with them. It’s like I have to constantly remind myself that I’m not going to break the internet.

What I have been doing has been really fun, though. I forgot how much I like to build websites with actual code, instead of using things like WordPress (not to say I don’t love you, WordPress). I mean, I haven’t hand-written a website since 1999. And now you can make them look so much cooler! I have a lot to learn, but it’s surprising me how fast it’s coming to me. And it’s also surprising me to realize that I’m going to end up being a tech person, a fate I resisted mightily when I was in college, in favor of feminist critical theory and literature.

So I guess the lesson I’m taking away from Fitzgerald’s article is that playing around is good in all areas of life—work and school, and you know, I think probably even relationships. And I will try, through the stresses of these coming weeks, to stay playful and keep having fun. Because otherwise, what’s the point?