The Power of Playfulness: Learn To Play- Its Fun and Good For You
Children are supposed
to play, adults are not. As an adult, we are conditioned to behave and conform
to the standards of society; they tell us to walk without running, keep our
voice controlled, don’t disrupt, don’t climb, don’t jump, don’t shout, and the list
goes on and on. Most people actually believe this is what qualifies a person to
be an adult and a proper, socialized citizen. By upholding this belief, the
majority of adults become rigid, unyielding- cutting play and imagination
almost completely out of their lives. Yet play is the ultimate new behavior
generator. It is a boundless resource for creativity and experimentation. If I
am talking to somebody and ask them sincerely to try something they may feel
uncomfortable or fearful of performing that activity, or answering the
questions. As soon as I rephrase the request and say, “Imagine or pretend to
know the answer…” By putting the word, imagine, in front of the question, I am
inviting a mental shift and encouraging play and imagination to take place,
thereby changing the emotional state of that person. Now, that person feels
free to explore without self doubts and fears holding them back. This is the
power of play.
I frequently run into
people that say, “Oh, I can’t learn that, I’m too old.” Another comment that I
frequently hear is, “Children learn much faster then adults, the adult brain
just isn’t capable of soaking up information the way a kid’s brain is.” Well,
if you believe that, then it certainly is true for you, but I don’t. In fact,
people frequently tell me that I learn extremely quickly and my response is, “I
learn faster, better, and smarter now than I ever did before. “ In part this is
due to my personal philosophy and attitude towards learning and the
relationship between play and learning.
Play allows me to
experiment, be creative, lighthearted and carefree. I was teaching my boss, a
serious man of 60 years of age, how to use his new laptop. He was listening to
me and cautiously moving the mouse around the screen, following my instructions.
The entire process of teaching him the basics of a program were excruciatingly
slow because he was unable to get past his fear of ruining or screwing
something up. Caution overtook curiosity and excitement, and the result was a
very difficult and tedious learning process. If I was to put a playful adult in
his stead, yes such a species does exist, that person would be jumping all over
the menus, pushing all the buttons and rapidly exploring the new computer
options. If you have forgotten how, it’s never too late to re-learn how to
play, it’s easy, it’s natural, and scientists are starting to learn that is
necessary for development. Learn to cultivate a playful and curious attitude
towards new and familiar things; it’s the best recipe for staying young, active,
and smart.
No comments:
Post a Comment