Title quote: George Bernard Shaw
I’ve agreed to come up with 10 questions for a weekly online chat with rotating topics. Next week’s topic is, “Connecting with the Inner Child through the Magic of Play!”.
Honestly, this embodies two of my favorite topics: magic and play.
I think Shaw’s quote rings so true for so many people. After all, most of us were taught that the moment we reach 18 years of age, we’re adults and we need to shelve our childish things and ideas. I remember my mom telling me, even at an early age (I’m guessing in moments where I’d tired her out from my constant playing), “Sherry, life is not all play.”
Looking back on it, the way she worded that wasn’t half bad. Life is not ALL play (but it can certainly have a little bit of it). My mom herself still has her moments of playfulness (at age 83).
As a rule pusher (and often breaker) with a creative, stubborn spirit, I had decided, probably by the age of 5, that I was never giving up on playing. As I grew up (not old), I never forgot this.
Shortly after Mario and I met, the first time he came over to my apartment it was to play my old original Nintendo (Mario Brothers, of course). I think we spent 6 hours straight playing that game. We’d also both create some fairly nonsensical art while most everyone else in art school at the time was taking the more serious route. I remember for one project, Mario modified a Ken doll by making him “Raver Ken” (it was 90s in Los Angeles, raving was big). I still have that by the way. One of my projects was covering a short, classical-style garden column with red fun fur. On top of the column sat little gray alien figure I made out of FIMO clay holding a colorful little drink umbrella. We were literally making stuff that had no other artistic purpose than to be fun and to make us smile. Nothing entertained us more at the time than sitting in a room full of art students who tried desperately to assign deep, artistic meaning to these silly works.
We’d always do fun things when we’d take trips. When visiting Gilroy, CA we visited an amusement park called Gilroy Gardens. Children and their parents are the target audience. We didn’t have kids, we WERE the kids. We went on all the little rides and had a great time.
One time when we went to a Renaissance Faire, Mario bought this ridiculous hat and of course wore it all around for years after that Faire.
We’d always be dropping movie quotes or song lyrics throughout the day. We’d people-watch and make up backstories for different folks we saw. It was just fun. We knew how to play and incorporate fun into everyday things. We did have that going for us.
I think people have known for a long time how important play really is. Over the last few decades, more research has gone into how play helps humans of any age. From stimulating our brains to relieving stress and from increasing connections with others to simply bringing joy to daily life, play is not something you should grow out of.
Charles Schaefer, largely considered to be the father of “play therapy” had this to say about it: “We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.”
Dr. Stuart Brown who’s the head of a nonprofit organization called the National Institute for Play defines it as, “…something done for its own sake. It’s voluntary, it’s pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome.”
And that’s a key aspect of play. Play is not a burden. Play shouldn’t make you feel bored, irritated or like you’re working for it. Think of a hobby you do for pure pleasure and how engrossed you can become in it while you’re doing whatever it is.
A couple weeks ago, I was watching some exercise videos on YouTube when I stumbled on one where a guy was talking about how a large percentage of adults could not swing from monkey bars–but they absolutely should because it’s incredibly good exercise for shoulders and arms and most importantly, FUN. Let me just say, I can actually swing from monkey bars. There’s a large park about 2 miles from my house and when the weather is nice, I often literally “take a recess” there and go play.
In 2022, the LEGO Play Well report found that 30,000 adults from around the globe highlighted the importance of play and its role in modern “adult” life. My guess is that number has probably grown since then. LEGO is one manufacturer who champions play at any age. And Mario loved LEGO. I still have a whole house full of LEGO builds. One of the very last things he ever did was work on building a LEGO model, but he didn’t get to finish it. I think it was very much “play therapy” that I finished it for him the day after he passed away.
Now that I’m recently tuned to looking for signals of play in the world around me, I’m hoping to see more of it. Of course, I’ll continue my play as well and I’m sure if Mario were still around, he’d do the same.
