Hi
and welcome to this week’s post that I hope you will find interesting. Play is such a fascinating subject from both
the position of an onlooker and also as a participant and on that note let us
look at the Importance of Play for Adults.
As
a young person my heart was set on becoming a teacher. I remember playing “school”
with my brother and sister and always being the teacher. Fast forward some 10 years and my career
plans were thwarted – despite being accepted for college my results were not
high enough- teacher training doors were firmly shut. Jump forward again some 40 years and I find
myself moving to Devon and becoming a Personal
Development coach (teacher) and now this month focusing my attention on PLAY!
“Play is the purest expression of love.” – Dr Stuart Brown
Here is a sad fact – “Our society tends to dismiss play for adults!”
There
is a large percentage of people that perceive Play as being petty and
unproductive, and some even go so far as saying that it is possibly even “a
guilty pleasure”.
So
many people believe that reaching adulthood means that has become time to get
serious and furthermore, they also seem to believe that as a result of personal
and professional responsibilities, there is simply no time to play.
The
author Bowen F White MD notes that “The only kind of play we honour is
competitive play,” in his book “Why Normal Isn’t Healthy”.
However,
play is just as important for adults as it is for children.
“We
don’t lose the need for novelty and pleasure as we grow up,” according to Scott
G. Eberle, Ph.D, vice president for play studies at The Strong and editor of the American Journal of
Play.
Play
brings joy! Furthermore, play is vital for problem solving, creativity and
relationships.
In
his book Play, author and psychiatrist
Stuart Brown, MD, compares play to oxygen. He writes, “…it’s all around us, yet
goes mostly unnoticed or unappreciated until it is missing.”
This
statement might seem surprising until you consider everything that constitutes
play. Play is art, books, movies, music, comedy, flirting and daydreaming,
writes Dr. Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play.
Dr
Brown has spent many years studying the power of play in everyone from
prisoners to businesspeople and from artists to Nobel Prize winners. He has
reviewed over 6,000 “play histories,” (these are case studies that explore the
role of play in each person’s childhood and adulthood).
For
example, he found that lack of play was just as important as other factors in
predicting criminal behavior among murderers in Texas
He
also found that playing together helped couples rekindle their relationship and
explore other forms of emotional intimacy.
Play
can even facilitate deep connections between strangers and cultivate healing.
In
addition to being a doctor and speaker, Dr. White is a clown. His alter ego,
Dr. Jerko, is a proctologist with a large behind and a doctor’s coat that says,
“I’m interested in your stools.” Over two decades ago, White began working with
renowned physician Patch Adams.
Today,
White continues to clown at children’s hospitals and orphanages all over the
world. He even clowns at corporate presentations and prisons. “Clowning isn’t
something we’re doing with kids, we clown with everybody,” he said.
He
has performed on the streets of Moscow and the
fact that he does not speak Russian did not prevent him from playing with
people in Red Square . Within 45 minutes, he
was juggling and joking with a crowd of 30 people.
In
Colombia
Once
there, they sat on either side of his bed and despite the fact that he could
not speak English, and they could not speak Spanish. They sang songs, laughed
and played with a whoopee cushion. They also cried! Later the daughter told
them that her father had deeply appreciated the experience.
Dr
White said “play can lead us to these sacred spaces and touch people in
powerful ways”
What
is Play?
“Defining
play is difficult because it is a moving target,” Eberle said. “It is a process,
not a thing.” He said “it begins in anticipation and hopefully ends in poise
and in-between you find surprise, pleasure, understanding — as skill and
empathy — and strength of mind, body, and spirit.”
Brown
likened play to a “state of being,” “purposeless, fun and pleasurable.” For the
most part, the focus is on the actual experience, not on accomplishing a goal.
The
activity is needless! As Brown said, for
some people knitting is pure pleasure; for others, it’s pure torture.
For
Dr Brown, who is almost 80, play is tennis with friends and a walk with his dog.
How
to Play
We
do not have to play every second of the day to enjoy play’s benefits. In his book, Brown calls play a catalyst. “A
little bit of play” he writes, “can go a long way toward boosting our
productivity and happiness”.
So
how can you add play into your life?
Here
are a few tips from the experts:-
Change
how you think about play - Remember that play is important for all aspects of
our lives, including creativity and relationships.
Give
yourself permission to play every day. Play can mean talking to your dog.
“I[‘d] ask my dog Charlie, regularly, his opinion of the presidential
candidates. He respond[ed] with a lifted ear and an upturning vocalization that
goes ‘haruum?’”
Eberle
said.
Play
can be reading aloud to your partner, he said. “Some playful writers are made
to be read aloud: Dylan Thomas, Art Buchwald, Carl Hiaasen, S.J. Perelman,
Richard Feynman, Frank McCourt.”
Take
a play history.
In
his book Brown includes a primer
to help readers reconnect with play. He suggests readers mine their past for
play memories such as:-
What
did you do as a child that excited you?
Did
you engage in those activities alone or with others? Or both? How can you
recreate that today?
Surround
yourself with playful people.
Both
Brown and White stressed the importance of selecting friends who are playful –
and of playing with your loved ones.
Play
with your little ones (or if you are older with the grand children) because
playing with children helps us to experience the magic of play from their
perspective.
Any
time that you think play is a waste, remember that it offers some serious benefits
for both you and others and as Dr Brown says in his book, “Play is the purest
expression of love!”
ooo000ooo
About Me
As the
founder of The Blue Sky Company I am dedicated to building a business that:-
“Inspires
and Empowers people to create Lasting Change”
I am a Personal
Development coach; speaker; radio presenter; therapist and co-owner of a
virtual light centre called The Crystal
Spring .
My
therapy work includes music therapy; crystal therapy and Reiki (Master /
Teacher).
If you would like to know more about my work in any of
the above therapies then please emailme
If you have found this (and my other posts) interesting I would really like
you to become a member of our Facebook family Under Blue Skies and you can do this by
following this link:-
ooo000ooo
LET’S CONNECT
My Other Sites
Website:
Wytchwynd Photography
Pinterest:
ooo000ooo
To subscribe to this blog please click the button that says “Follow” on the right hand side of the
page and you will be added to our
list of subscribers.
I sincerely hope that you have found this article (or any of my others)
interesting and/or useful. If so, then
it would be fantastic if you could leave a comment in the “comment” box below.
Please share this and my other posts with your friends and associates so
that together we can work towards making this world a better place.
Have a fantastic day, live
a life of Passion and Power.
And above all
Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!
DAve x
P.S.
The Under Blue Skies Workbook, the Mini Goal Pages and a selection of my musical work together with items by other content
creators can now be purchased from my Shopping
Page which is accessed by clicking the tab at the top of the page.
No comments:
Post a Comment