“I seem to play a lot more as I get older,” said one person. “Certainly I find life more joyful. I am also less judgmental. This frees me up to be more creative. I do a lot of painting. Previously my style was quite conservative, but it has become lighter and more liberated over the years.”
“There is nothing more serious than play,” we are told. Certainly this is how we learn during the early years. Johan Huizinga explained how play shapes a culture in his book Homo Ludens. Plato also believed play was vital. He said:
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play, than in a year of conversation.
During play we become absorbed in an activity. We explore and discover the world. Creative people retain this quality throughout their lives. Let’s consider how to make this happen.
1) You can clarify where you enjoy a sense of play.
When do you enjoy a sense of play? You may be designing, fixing cars, being with children, teaching, gardening, building, creating or whatever.
Laughter is good for the soul and is often present during play. If not laughter, then perhaps curiosity, the joy of finding patterns in life. Play can help us to see things from another angle. This leads to a sense of wonder. George Bernard Shaw wrote:
We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe the situations where you experience a sense of play. Second, choose one of these situations that you want to focus on in the future. Third, describe the things you experience in this situation. Try completing the following exercise.
2) You can clarify the principles you follow when enjoying a sense of play.
“During my 30s I became rather earnest and perhaps a bit boring,” explained one man. “Work was all-consuming and things weren’t going well at home."
"My partner told me to ‘lighten-up’, so I returned to playing music. During my youth I performed in a rock band, but then gave-up. So I bought a piano and began writing songs. I’ve also recorded some for my own amusement."
"I will never make a hit record, but music has enriched my life. Now I follow Mark Twain’s motto of: ‘Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.’ My partner also says that I am more fun.”
What are the principles you follow when you play? You may follow your passion, set a goal, explore and keep working until you finish. Try completing the following sentence.
3) You can keep enjoying a sense of play in the future.
Many people recognise the link between creativity and play. Linda Naiman wrote in her book Creativity and the Meaning of Work:
When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity. So play with your intuition.
Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan underlined this point in their book Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul. They say:
Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation.
People forget themselves when they play. They go through process of absorption, adventure and achievement. This enables them to explore new dimensions and make creative breakthroughs. Thomas Edison, the inventor, said:
I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
Stuart Brown believes that the opposite of play is not work. It is depression. It is vital to find time to play every day. This helps to revitalise our soul.
How can you do this in your own way? You may want to set aside time to do gardening, inventing, writing, mountaineering, creative problem-solving or whatever.
People want three things from work: money, meaning and magic. Money feeds the spirit. But meaning and magic feed the spirit and the soul. One way to do this is to build in some time for play.
As golfers say to each other before going out on a round: 'Play well'. Play in a way that helps yourself and other people. Try completing the following sentences.
Posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 4:17 pm in Strengths, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
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