People who haven’t played before don’t know what it means to “play” Dungeons & Dragons. Here’s what I think it means.

Many hours every week, we read, we write, we draw, we imagine and dream of new ideas to bring to our meeting of friends.

We read history, science non-fiction as well as fiction, geography, geology, metallurgy and many other subjects so that our understanding of this world leads us to a better way to imagine our world of play.

We write down ideas, new rules, concepts that we stole from other places and put together to make something different.

We draw our characters, monsters, castles, dragons and treasures. We create art in many forms including sculpture, drawing and painting.

We learn about probability, normal distribution, spread sheets, how to use technology as a way to enjoy our games more or in different ways.

We play, together for many hours with our friends. We laugh. We get freaked out. Sometimes we even feel a little sad. But we are together, with each other and fully present in the moment.

We meet other people who “play” as well and no matter what we look like, what we do for a living, where we come from or who we love… We all play and that is a common ground that transcends all the other bullshit that so many people get whipped up about.

Yes, I play Dungeons and Dragons.