Is Work Play? Can It Be?

One of the stated goals of Pajama Nation is that small entrepreneurs and freelancers enjoy an a la carte lifestyle working for themselves. An ideal has apparently been developing over the past decade or so – the ideal is that work can be play. In the industrial age, most of us worked in non-creative and rather mechanistic -- if not downright oppressive -- jobs. (Nobody would claim that coal mining is fun). Today, an increasing number of people work at gigs that involve some thought and creativity – design, participating in the invention of new tools, creating and being part of media; whether it's big media or decentralized net media.

Indeed, some of the biggest industries in the world are dedicated to fun and games… literally games. They're making fun out there, but they may or may not be having fun. One hopes that they are.

During the boom of the late 1990s, a certain percentage of young folk in the advanced nations lived, ate and slept at their dot com businesses and they enjoyed the hell out of doing it. Maybe you remember the media write-ups about young men with nose rings skateboarding to work; the in-house massages; the midnight raves and the all day hacking sessions. Work and leisure were no longer in nice little compartments – work being something you do from 9 am – 5 pm on weekdays, and leisure being something you do the rest of the time. Life was 24/7 and people worked hard and played hard. (It's fine if you're 25, of course. The rest of us may want to work easy and play easy, but we're still seeking that same internal state – life as undivided continuum.)

Social critics have noted that the very idea of a "work day" is an artifact of the 17th Century. One of the features of a Pajama Nation is that we no longer "punch the clock." The integration of work, life and play is one of the greatest hopes for human happiness.

One great place to start thinking about all this is by reading "The Play Ethic", a book and a website by England's Pat Kane.