Why Don't We PLAY More?

The art of play seems to fade with age.

I wish it wouldn't.

Babysitting I've noticed how kids don't need much to play.

Sure they have elaborate multi-piece, battery-requiring, noise-making, moving toys BUT those aren't their favorite toys. They may play with them for a phase until the newness wears off.

Then it seems they return to the classics like their building blocks, hot wheels, barbies, etc.

Better yet is when they don't even use real "toys" but instead...
Turn pots and pans into a drum set.
Or sticks in the yard into toy swords.
Or their blanket becomes a cape draped over their shoulders or a fort draped over the living room furniture.
Or a string of their mom's pearls transforms them into a runway model.
Or a cardboard box suddenly becomes a ship sailing the seven seas.

Imagination.

It's a beautiful thing.

And it seems to fade along with playing as we age.

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Thank God for my job.

It is keeping my imagination and play alive :) 

Though I am a college graduate, I am not stuffed in a suit in a cubicle in the grown-up world of all work and no play.

Instead, this is my job: http://youtu.be/TMs0faqeb5U 

And a short while later note the destruction in the middle of the floor and how our bunkers and shields had expanded: http://youtu.be/CRGfEOqq6AM

How did this happen?

Perhaps it was simply because it was well after midnight and we did have students there from the local military college so they are actually trained for war. But, mostly, I think it was just that mixed with imagination. And fun.

We all started PLAYING.

One minute we were sitting around chatting and the next someone discovered the box of foam darts that were freebies at the conference we were attending. Before we knew it, tables were overturned and sides had been chosen and attacks had started.

It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

There is something fun, no doubt, about a board game or sports BUT it just isn't the same as playing with your imagination.

Where there are no rules.
No structure.
No limits.

You just dream up whatever you want.

And it is contagious.

The dart war started with just a handful of us but by the end everyone in the room had joined in.

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The same thing happened last night.

Not a dart war but pure, unplanned play. 

Some students and I were hanging out after an event and there was a lot of leftover Conversation Candy Sweethearts from Valentine's day.

Let's be real, no one really eats those anyways, right? They're kinda like colored chalk?

BUT, you do eat them if they become part of a game where they are tossed into your mouth... which is precisely what we did.

It was a relatively subdued activity at first with just a few guys trying to toss them and catch them in their mouth. However, soon they started throwing them faster or farther or to different people.

Or after they'd already fallen on the ground. Then there was synchronized throwing and catching. There was a monkey in the middle of sorts where people popped in on a toss intercepting someone else's candy heart.

Soon, everyone became involved. And laughed. And smiled. Played. Had fun.

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I hope that wherever you are - in college, in the "real world," with kids of your own, whatever - that you don't get stuck being too serious. 

I hope you stoke your imagination and play a little everyday. 

Life's too short to be too serious. 

And playing is priceless ;)