What is Play
Research shows that we are designed by nature to flourish through play. Play is not just joyful and energizing — it is deeply involved with human development, intelligence, and well-being.
Most people grossly underrate the importance of play and playfulness to our success and happiness.
Play is not just something you should do when on vacation. Play every day, and you will enjoy life more and feel less stressed.
Stuart Brown defines play as purposeless, all-consuming, and fun and states that it is a biological imperative that is as crucial to our health and wellbeing as sleep and nutrition.
“The opposite of play is not work, it’s depression.”
~ Stuart Brown
This entire post is about play and very important to understand but everything before this pretty much sums up the ingredient of play in the Happiness Recipe and is explored more in Find Your Happy Zone and Play is Vital
The Happiness Recipe is about Consciously Creating your life, and creativity involves purposeful play. The individual activities that are play to you are as important to your overall happiness as eating well and brushing your teeth are to your overall health.
The importance of play is also not a new concept and science shows us again and again that play nourishes our minds and souls like food nourishes our bodies.
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.”
~ Carl Jung
You need individual activities to engage your mind and refresh your soul. These activities are not the same for everyone. Find what is stress-free for you. What engages you. Knitting? Cooking? Horseback riding? Painting? Music (listening or playing)? Walking? Reading? Writing? Polishing the silver? Golfing? This needs to be YOUR idea of what feels fun/nourishing, not mine or anyone else’s!
What is play for one person may be pure unhappy stress for someone else.
What is Play for you?
Cleaning the house can be play. What is play for you may be the opposite of play to someone else. If you feel good if you enjoy it that is a good sign that it is play for you. If it is stressful it is not play for you. What is play for you is for you to decide for yourself. The more playful you can make your everyday activities the easier it becomes to Walk in Joy.
To quote from Free to Learn by Peter Gray, “The characteristics of play all have to do with motivation and mental attitude, not with the … behavior. Two people might be throwing a ball … or typing words on a computer, and one might be playing while the other is not. …” Check out National Institute for Play: https://www.nifplay.org/play-for-you/make-play-part-of-an-adult-life/
“The true object of all human life is play.”
~ G. K. Chesterton
The true object of all human life is play. ~ G. K. Chesterton
The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression. ~ Brian Sutton-Smith
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct ~ Carl Jung.
Almost all creativity involves purposeful play. ~ Abraham Maslow.
It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives. ~ Fred Rogers
Play is the mediator of the invisible and visible. ~ Dora M. Kalff
It is a happy talent to know how to play. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
To the art of working well a civilized race would add the art of playing well. ~ George Santayana
We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. ~ George Bernard Shaw
If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society. ~ Jean Piaget
Whoever wants to understand much must play much. ~ Gottfried Benn
Stay Alive, Pay Attention and HAVE FUN!
