Playing teaches us tolerance and builds trust. It prepares us to deal with the unexpected. People who doesn't play risk serious depressions.
Stuart Brown is the director of the american National Institute of Play. You can download his fascinating story on the importance of play here on this site.
Download: Play, Spirit and Character
Listen to the 48 minutes of sound scientific knowledge presented by this pioneer of play-research. It is astounding, and sobering.
I am a playful person. I love roleplay gaming, reading and messing around with computers. I also draw and write. But lately I haven't let myself drift into the timeless state of just playing around with stuff. I'm so caught up in learning new things, and blogging, and working, and my family-life, that my preferred playing-habits have been overshadowed... neglected.
And at work too! How often have I churned on in hyper-efficient black belt GTD-mode, and how rare the table-soccer games with a couple of the colleages have become! This has to be looked into. I know it in my bones, a playful atmosphere at work is a key ingredient in innovation.
"If you see a bunch of stiffs walking around, I can guarantee you they are not being very creative!" David Kelley IDEO
Playful experiences with friends and colleages are deep and important relationship builders. If you feel overwhelmed then play to relax the mind, and generate energy for a new burst of creative work. And actually it is in playful exploring stuff that interest you, that you often find mindblowing new ideas!
Thanks to Alexander Kjerulff, who originally blogged and linked to a polar bear and a dog playing, and here I found the podcast after playing around for a while :)
- Jens Poder
