I’ve been reading The New Game Plan for Recovery: Rediscovering the Positive Power of Play, primarily because right now I’m fascinated with the importance of creativity and fun in daily life. I’m not convinced that being an adult means giving these up.
I only found this book when I visited the C.G. Jung Society library, a musty old room with shelves bursting from psychoanalytic tomes, piles of papers everywhere, the librarian Bunny’s two mutts pressing themselves into my legs in greeting. I needed more research for my near-complete dissertation, and Bunny, Charles, and I spent an hour talking, petting the dogs, and rifling through books and cassette-tape lectures and journals together.
We played.
Quereau and Zimmermann map the adult experience of play here. Some core principles they list include:
* Play is not for real (but it’s really fun)
* When you can do so safely, suspend judgment (and fear of judgment) in favor of fun.
* Put process before product (i.e., the experience is more important than the outcome)
* Put some imagination into your challenges
* Do it differently
I’m also not convinced that the tanking economy means we have to set aside our playful impulses. On the contrary, I would suggest that now is an essential time for play, exactly because it increases our creativity, flexibility, and ability to think on our feet. Play is spontaneous and constantly changing; young animals and humans play in part to increase their responsiveness to their environment.
But play also just helps us feel joy and wonder. Maybe we could use that right now. It’s why I started this blog … I don’t want to miss all the great stuff that’s still happening.
More to come!