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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
Wellness and Play in the New Year (Encore)
Today is a festive national holiday (though less so than last night!) -- the beginning of a new year. Just think -- it's 2008. Did you ever imagine you would live to see 2008? Well, I suppose you did if you are still in high school, or under 30 even, but for many of us, 2008 would have seemed like a futuristic pipe dream that would come about long after our departure from the scene. At least I would have said so when I was in high school, in the mid - 50's. But, here it is, 2008 and I'm still here and so are you. Whoooeee. Let's make a go of it.
Today is a time of celebration and, if we're wise, yet another occasion to inventory the multiple good fortunes we have, large and small, for which to be grateful. It is, therefore, a good time to go out and play a bit and, when we return from doing so, ponder the nature of play, its role in our lives as adults, and varied strategies by which we might experience more play throughout 2008.
Play can brighten your day, enliven your workplace, and help to build team spirit. Skilled facilitators can lead teams of employees through a number of small group activities that will enable people to bond and learn new ways to achieve cohesion and thus shape environments conducive to breakthrough performances.
Play is a potent tool for enhancing mental capacities; it is useful as well for encouraging higher trust levels, fun, creativity, spontaneity, and joy. If you recall the acronym I invented based on the Gary Larson Far Side cartoon showing buzzards with a dead bloated rhino underfoot (DBRU), you might appreciate the fact that play is capable of providing more than a few of the 23 DBRUs I claim you need daily!
The capacity to enjoy play personally and to promote it for others can be healthful and rewarding. Play is a well-recognized and understood skill used in many professional settings: It is used to develop creativity and spontaneity, to facilitate healing, and to overcome obstacles.
Play therapy has been used successfully as a counseling tool for children, as well as adults, for many years, but the phenomenon of play is too important and applicable to self-management to be employed only in a developmental or problem context. It can be used as well for positive, health enhancement purposes.
The tools of play are as varied as your imagination -- play elements include but are far from limited to the use of puppets or dolls, imaginary situations, board games, artwork or craft creations, storytelling, role modeling, ad libbing, and various other forms of acting out.
Play can be used to make daily routines less taxing. When I was a child, long long ago during dark and stormy nights, play was usually the rationale for our continuous exercise routines. Of course, we did not think of what we were doing as exercise, as is the case today when I run, bike or swim. Back then, it was just play.
Children in the pre-cyber age got all the exercise they needed and much more with games and rituals of play! Of course, computers and video games were not around to distract us from healthful play of a vigorous physical nature. In fact, when I was a kid, there were no computers or video games, and often no automobiles, electricity, indoor plumbing or other modern conveniences -- or at least that's what I told my children whenever I felt the need to engage in a bit of literary license to convey the idea of how hard it was to be a kid in "the good old days gone by." My Dad used to do this with me, so I was only passing along a family tradition.
In any event, know that play can be used to give others, and to experience for yourself, feelings of empowerment as well as exhilaration. In professional hands play therapy can be structured to give children a sense of mastery, a chance to be the rule makers for a change, and otherwise to create a world wherein they can feel influential. It is also a time when they can practice needed social skills, overcome frightening feelings, and triumph over the upsets and traumas that might otherwise abscond with their sense of security and well-being. In short, play can be used to express needs and discover solutions in a safe environment.
For children, play is a natural method of learning, developing, and expressing feelings. Play can provide both children and adults the opportunity to use their natural creativity and imagination to heal, grow, and prosper with self-management -- leading to more satisfying and fulfilling lives.
In summary, having more fun at home and at the worksite through the deliberate inclusion of play isn't a fantasy or an unrealistic pipe dream. According to Matt Weinstein, who has led play sessions at companies worldwide for decades, "It's a smart and savvy strategy to becoming a more creative, productive, and dynamic employee."
A happy and playful New Year to you. All the best. Look on the bright side in 2008.
Domain: purposeSubdomain: play
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