Play
Finished reading Play by Dr. Stuart Brown. He is head of the National Institute For Play. The book talks about play: what is considered play and how it is essential to development, creativity, mental and physical health, productivity, wellness and most importantly joy in life. This was an interesting “science” book. I put science in quotes because the book reads one part science and one part self help. This was unlike most science books I’ve read because it relied heavily on anecdotal evidence and actually appealed to you at an emotional level rather than a rational. The book was a pretty good read because it was written in simple English and with a sense of accessibility to everyone, especially parents and adults. He spent a lot of time breaking the taboo that play is only for kids. We unfortunately understand play as something just kids do but, as he explains, play can be reading, painting, watching a movie. It’s not exactly what you are doing but how you are feeling that defines play. He gives countless examples of how he has helped adults reconnect with themselves and families through introducing play back into their lives. As usual, I took notes. I’ll share his recommendations for finding your play state and how to bringing it back into your life.
First off, my notes are here in PDF form.
- Take your play history – Find the joy from the past is halfway to learning how to create it again in your life in the present.
- Expose yourself to play – people close themselves off to play when they feel they have to be serious all the time, be productive all the time. Essentially stop and smell the flowers.
- Give yourself permission to be playful, to be a beginner – let go of self and feelings of being judged by others.
- Fun is your North Star, but you don’t always have to head north – really transforming events and acts of play aren’t purely fun. Like camping, there is some prep and work involved.
- Be active – Just move. This will jump-start play very quickly. The body is designed to move, you will feel alive.
- Free yourself of fear – Find a “secret space” – find out what about surroundings prevents a sense of trust that his holding you back from real play.
- Nourish your mode of play, and be with people who nourish it, too
For those interested to learn more, a good place to start is to watch Dr. Brown’s TED talk on the subject of play.
And because a picture says a thousand words, a moving one says a million.
(picture courtesy of Creative Liberty)
