In our corner of the world, school doors have closed for two months and the dog days of summer have begun. Traffic has noticeably decreased in the city. The highways are steady with vehicles and campers heading for points away. Outdoor café patios are overflowing with happy chatter amidst cool beverages. Manitobans seize the summer, perhaps because our winter climate forces life indoors for the best part of 4 months of the year. There’s always an outdoor festival or event to be found from the beginning of June to the Labour Day weekend in September. It’s like a collective play date, and play we do indeed.
Last September Stuart Brown wrote a compelling opinion piece for the New York Times online edition entitled “Let the Children Play (Some More)“. If anyone knows about play, it’s Brown. He’s the founder and president of the National Institute for Play, and has written a book entitled Play, How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. In the Times piece, he talks about the values of lifelong play. “For humans, play reinvigorates us not because it is down time, but because it gets us in touch with our core selves and the joy of life.”
When people are asked to identify what is important to them in their personal and their work life, words like home/work balance and creativity come up consistently. If Brown is right (and we’d affirm his observation), play needs to be an intentional part of our lives, personally and organizationally. It’s probably no coincidence that most ‘team-building’ exercises involve some kind of play component. Whether we work together or live together, spending time interacting in ways that don’t involve a computer keyboard or boardroom table is critical to our health.
Getting ‘in touch with our core selves and the joy of life’ is gospel directive. So go build a sand castle or visit a medieval castle or dance to castanets. Consider it a play date. We’ll bring the snack.
