"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
- Plato
Play promotes curiosity, seeks novelty, teaches perseverance and invites creativity. It even nourishes the immune system. Each person has a unique play personality. When one gets in touch with it, the pleasures and fun abound.
Animals teach human beings about play. If you dangle a string in front of a cat or play ball with a dog, you have seen their playful expressions in action.
In his book, The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt, psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, reports playful behavior in lizards, turtles, and birds. Even fish amuse themselves in play.
Stuart Brown, on of the authors of Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and Invigorates the Soul, believes in the necessity of play for children and adults. His organization,
The National Institute for Play focuses on making human play, "a credentialed discipline in the scientific community."
Many children today have lost touch with tree climbing and scouting for discoveries in nature. Computer games attract them more than wriggly creatures, bird song or flying clouds. Nagel Jackson writes, "The truly great advances of this generation will be made by those who make outrageous connections. Only a mind which knows how to play can do that."
Become playful. You may have to work at it. Flow in a fun process.
Play in writing. Dangle words and images, make connections and search for nuances and discoveries.
What would you do with a teapot, maple syrup, a parakeet, and a harmonica?
Go for a walk and choose five items. Touch, smell, listen and notice their charms. Play with them in conversations.
Teach a mockingbird your school's fight song.
Create a sandcastle with a crocodile.
How would you capture the sun for fun?
Invite a cheetah on your morning walk or run.
No comments:
Post a Comment