Soul Blossoming A to Z: P is for Play

Play: engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose

Synonyms: frolic, frisk, gambol, romp, cavort, caper

Soul Blossoming A to Z continues–its playtime!

I love those synonyms–they are so, well, playful!

And since today’s letter is :

Well, why not spend a little time frolicking?

We all need to play

Children need plenty of free, unstructured playtime–you can read more about that in my post on Waldorf Inspired Parenting, as well as other posts on Waldorf education.

But us grown-ups need to playtime, too. When I was a kid, I loved this song from Peter Pan:

I sang alone and with friends–although I didn’t know all the words in this version. But I thought it would be really boring to grow up because you had to be serious all the time. But guess what–you don’t have to be serious all the time (or else I got my wish and didn’t grow up!).

Here’s an article from the Washington Post on the importance of play for adults. Basically, it says that playing reduces stress and increases well-being (and also makes us more attractive to potential romantic partners!). Or as I might say, it helps our souls to blossom. They go on to write about different types of playfulness in adults:

Not all adults play alike, of course. In a study published in April in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, researchers examined the complexities of adult playfulness in an effort to tease out patterns of behavior.

The researchers identified four types of playful adults: those who outwardly enjoy fooling around with friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances; those who are generally lighthearted and not preoccupied by the future consequences of their behavior; those who play with thoughts and ideas; and those who are whimsical, exhibiting interest in strange and unusual things and are amused by small, everyday observations.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Lila–Playing made sacred

Lila comes from Hinduism and yoga. It’s basically the idea that Brahman created the whole world through sacred play (although I’m sure this is an oversimplified description)–not from necessity.

 Lila emphasizes the fact that the world is born in freedom and playful creativity, rather than necessity. In this way, the whole world can be seen as a stage for this lila, or divine play. It is an illusion to see the actions on the stage as real, and those who see them in this way are said to be under the spell of maya. In other yogic schools and teachings, lila is used to denote the divine play of male and female. (from Yogapedia).

The National Institute for Play

Stuart Brown founded the National Institute for Play and has written books and given TED talks on the importance of playing in every stage of life. Here’s his TED Talk:

Playing–how do you do it?

Writing my blog is playful for me. I’ve created lots of opportunities for playing in my life. With little ones, with friends, by myself. Making stuff and making art. A lot of writing is play (although editing isn’t usually). And I can’t forget laughing and being silly–which I tend to do a lot. What kind of play do you like? What kind of play did you like as a kid? That might give you clues as to what you might enjoy now if you’re not sure.

At any rate, I hope you have fun–and keep blossoming.

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo