Why do adults stop playing and how do I start again?

We don't stop playing because we grow up—we stop because we're taught that productivity matters more than joy. Somewhere between childhood and your first job, play gets rebranded as 'wasting time.' But Nasreddin Hodja knew something we forgot: the examined life requires lightness. Play isn't frivolous; it's how we stay flexible enough to see paradox, to hold two truths at once without breaking. Start small. Not a hobby—that still has performance anxiety built in. I mean: notice something absurd today and sit with it. Play with an idea the way a child plays with a stick. Let it be purposeless. The Hodja's best wisdom came wrapped in jokes because humor creates safety to think differently. When you play, you're not wasting time—you're reclaiming your right to be uncertain, to fail, to discover. That's where real learning lives. This week, do one thing for no reason except that it delights you. Not Instagram-delightful. Actually delightful to you. Notice what happens to how you see problems after.