I've started trying to be more specific about what I mean by "work", "hard work", and "play" when I think about stuff.
"Work" is anything that must be done regardless of whether it is enjoyable. That includes things I do for myself as well as other people. Doing the dishes is work, even if I enjoy the zen of it. Automating a repetitive process at work is work, even if I enjoy the flow of it.
"Hard work" is anything that must be done even though mind and body say "this is bad for you, keep doing this only if it's really important" using the vocabulary of pain, exhaustion, boredom, resentment, anxiety, and so on. What's hard work for me might not be for someone else, and what's hard work for them might not be for me. What's hard work for both of us is likely to be a source of struggle to get the other person to do it.
"Play" is anything that doesn't need to be done, regardless of whether it is enjoyable. If you want a "hard work" equivalent of play, maybe striving play? Either way, it is worth distinguishing from work because the condition of not needing to succeed relaxes inhibitions on creativity, experimentation, and novel behavior.
There's a bunch of dimensions in all of these that I need to untangle. But one thing I really like is the detachment of enjoyability from whether or not something is work or play. I have to go to a party to bond with coworkers. I might enjoy it, it might involve games and feelings of connection, but it is work because I need to do it to maintain my security of food and shelter and yada yada, and I will be putting a face on.
One of work's important dimensions is "are you being paid?" which can be generalized to "I'm doing this because of some external factor" such as in "clothes don't clean themselves."
"do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" doesn't take into account that external factors have some influence on what you do whenever they are present.
> "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life"
I've long thought this saying was very dubious at best. In my experience, doing what you love in order to make a living tends to turn "what you love" into work.
"Work" is anything that must be done regardless of whether it is enjoyable. That includes things I do for myself as well as other people. Doing the dishes is work, even if I enjoy the zen of it. Automating a repetitive process at work is work, even if I enjoy the flow of it.
"Hard work" is anything that must be done even though mind and body say "this is bad for you, keep doing this only if it's really important" using the vocabulary of pain, exhaustion, boredom, resentment, anxiety, and so on. What's hard work for me might not be for someone else, and what's hard work for them might not be for me. What's hard work for both of us is likely to be a source of struggle to get the other person to do it.
"Play" is anything that doesn't need to be done, regardless of whether it is enjoyable. If you want a "hard work" equivalent of play, maybe striving play? Either way, it is worth distinguishing from work because the condition of not needing to succeed relaxes inhibitions on creativity, experimentation, and novel behavior.
There's a bunch of dimensions in all of these that I need to untangle. But one thing I really like is the detachment of enjoyability from whether or not something is work or play. I have to go to a party to bond with coworkers. I might enjoy it, it might involve games and feelings of connection, but it is work because I need to do it to maintain my security of food and shelter and yada yada, and I will be putting a face on.