This morning, my co-founder of Danscend, Kristin Deiss, gave a presentation to our subscribers on the science behind and the importance of…play.
I didn’t know how much I needed to hear this information.
She brought up a number of important points from the book Play by Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play and I was kind of gobsmacked. And also, I felt a little guilty.
Did you know that all mammals play? Little fishes blow bubbles for fun and even the smallest organisms, when they are fed and when they feel safe, PLAY.
Do I play? Maybe. I don’t know. That might be a part of the problem.
I mean…sometimes I play begrudgingly. From time to time, I play PS5 for 20 minutes on the weekend and then I beat myself up for it for the next few days because I “wasted my time” and I “wasn’t productive.”
But what I learned this morning is that…
PLAY IS PRODUCTIVE!
The productivity of play
Stuart M. Brown says, “The ability to play is critical not only to being happy, but also to sustaining social relationships and being a creative, innovative person.” So finding some play in your day is kind of along the lines of the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, hydrating, and working out. (In fact, moving your body is one of the easiest ways to play).
The interesting thing about play, though, is that one thing that might be play for one person (I love writing - duh) might not seem like play for another person (my husband very much dislikes writing). It’s only play if you find it fun. Even if you’re riding a roller coaster, your brain can only consider it play if you find it…you guessed it…fun.
I won’t go deep into it, but play can help develop the brain’s prefrontal cortex. A study published in Behaviour says, “These data suggest that during play there is coordination of neural activity between frontal cortex, striatum, and amygdala.”
So, if you love hiking, you could be enhancing your happiness, your social relationships, and your creativity while you climb a mountain? Yeppers. But, only if you don’t beat yourself up for it the whole time you do it (ahem, Michelle).
What the heck is play, anyway?
For those of us grownups who have apparently forgotten how to have fun, we might need a little reminder of how to suck the marrow out of the rainbow slushee of life. Well, it turns out that there are a bunch of different ways to play. You can have a blast reorganizing your sock drawer (just me?) or you can have fun playing with your insect collection (not me). Again, it only matters that you consider it fun.
But, there is one thing that all play does share - it’s voluntary. You do whatever you do to have fun simply because it’s fun. Not because you feel any obligation to do it and not because there is anything in it for you (or anyone else). When whatever you do to play starts becoming an obligation? Guess what? It stops becoming play.
Final thoughts
It’s a slippery slope - I could grab that PS5 remote and live my best life for the next three hours if I wanted to and chalk it up to “getting smarter through play.” I don’t necessarily recommend that. But, I could also refuse to give myself time to do anything enjoyable because I don’t think it has a purpose. I also don’t recommend that.
Why? Because the exact thing that doesn’t have a purpose? The thing that we do because we want to, not because we have to?
Guess what? It has a purpose.
So, play away, dear friends. I’m going to set a timer for 20 minutes and rock out some Sackboy.
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Love,
Michelle
It has taken me years to be purposeful about making time for play in my life. I had to rewire my brain to not feel guilty about it, as you mentioned. I think I'm still figuring out what actually counts as "play" though! :D Great post!