Imaginibbles

“Play is not only our creative drive; it’s a fundamental mode of learning”- David Eikind, Comtemporary American phsychologist.

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.”- Stuart Brown, M.D. Contemporary American psychiatrist, Founder of National Institute for Play

Play, one of the 7 Building Blocks To Imaginative Thinking™, is an integral part of our lives. Yet, somewhere between childhood and adulthood we lose our ability to play. We become self-conscious and overly serious. This is unfortunate given that play has so many wonderful benefits.

Dr. Strong, one of the great researchers on play and the founder of the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY (they have a Lego castle) created a very insightful chart that helps us better understand the value of play. Let’s take a look at the chart and bring that back around to right-brain thinking and living a joyful, imaginative life. After all, it’s hard to dream big if you can’t let go and laugh a little!

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As it states in the chart, Play begins with Anticipation which brings a sense of openness and curiosity. Can you imagine starting your day with a sense of openness and curiosity? That would make everything go well. Of course that leads to Surprise which brings appreciation, discovery and awakening. Follow that up with a dose of understanding which includes empathy, insight and mastery. Next and here is where it gets really creative, you get to Strength which includes vitality, creativity and passion. Of course the final stage is Poise which finishes us up with fulfillment, spontaneity and balance. That sounds great to me and I hope it does to you too? Can you remember the last time you felt any of these?

It’s no wonder that unadulterated play leads to creative thinking and joy. Many years ago, when I was working as a consultant in New York City, I was given my first project. I remember it so clearly. I was actually going to head up my first team, manage the project and present to the client…wow! Oh, did I mention it was for a panty hose company? Late one night, way past dinner, the team and I were sitting around the conference table trying desperately to come up with some innovative messaging for the product. We weren’t getting anywhere! Instead of hunkering down I had the team put on their thinking caps. In this case, those thinking caps were panty hose. We all came up with new panty hose characters and proceeded on with our brainstorm. You can guess what happened next. We looked ridiculous but the ideas were flowing. Right brain thinking a go-go and good times by all. In all seriousness, adding a little play to the moment unlocked our right-brains giving us the ability to tap our imaginative sides.

On a personal note, I have been helping my 5 year old learn to read. I went out and bought all the appropriate teaching tools and made a homework schedule for us to follow. It bombed! I couldn’t keep his interest for more than 5 minutes. Talk about a lack of curiosity and absolutely no sense of discovery. After a few weeks I was on the verge of giving up when it hit me, perhaps if I made it a game he would get more out of it. So that is exactly what we now do. We write silly, creative stories to read. He’s a boy so farting bunnies and Tae Kwon Do dogs are in almost every story. He gets to be creative, I write the stories and then he reads them back. Way cool and he tapped his sense of discovery and wonder, integral to living an imaginative life.

The lesson here…add a little play to your life! You’ll get creativity, laughter and joy out of it. Stop being so serious – it doesn’t do you any good

If you are at work going through the motions, put on your bunny slippers under your desk. You’ll feel silly and that silliness will lead to openness, discovery and creativity.

If you are at home cleaning, put on some fun music and dance. I hate cleaning but the other day I pressed play, put on my dancing shoes and off I went.
Running a painfully boring meeting, pass out clown noses. Even those that roll their eyes at you will eventually play along.
Most importantly, turn off the cell phone and play a game. Skip down the hall, play a game online, whatever gives you that feeling of being a kid again.
Don’t let the fact that you are a responsible adult get in the way of some unadulterated belly laughter. It makes life so much for imaginative and enjoyable.

Did you hear the one about the guy that………ha ha ha ha

Dream big. Dream often. Drink through a straw.

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