The Fun Doctor – a journey into playfulness

Coffee bean

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

George Bernard Shaw

Playfulness is intrinsic to our nature as humans. I believe it essential throughout our whole lives, not just in childhood. This blog is about rediscovering playfulness, taking a practical look at what it is, how it manifests and what limits it. This is my recorded journey as an illustrator who delights in the playful, joyful and amusing. I hope it generates a ripple of fun!

Tracy Spiers

Dr. Fun Blog Timeline

  • Frozen bubbles
    Why my PhD is threatening to kill the very subject I am studying – playfulness. I have a problem and I am stuck. I am a playful practitioner who delights in making ordinary mundane tasks more fun by reframing them and producing visual images that involve rearranging objects to create ‘enjoyable incongruencies’. My main hypothesis… Continue reading Frozen bubbles
  • Feeling lost
    I am sure we have all felt lost and unsure. It is like being in a maze, surrounded by high hedges and not being able to see beyond. The only way forward is to try the path ahead, but then that gets confusing when it divides, and you have a choice. Then there are the… Continue reading Feeling lost
  • The long-distance runner
    I have been strangely silent on my blog, and I apologise. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, it’s just that my time has been poured into research experiments, academic reading, and an attempt to write literature reviews on anything to do with playfulness. So, from now on, I will keep my blog… Continue reading The long-distance runner
  • Out of the blue
    Sometimes we do mundane ordinary things without thinking, they just become a part of routine. But what does mundane mean? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it means ‘very ordinary and therefore not interesting. Other phrases associated with mundane include tedious, repetitive, boring, everyday and commonplace. My challenge is how can I punctuate this with playfulness?… Continue reading Out of the blue
  • Simply red
    Paul Klee is well known for ‘taking a line for a walk’. I am talking the artist for a walk, and in doing so looking for the colour, lines, textures, shapes that jump out. I will concentrate on the same walk, but each time I go out, I will focus on a different theme. For… Continue reading Simply red