The Art of being a Play-er

One of the four tenets of the stress management program I teach is Spirit Work.  This is probably the most misunderstood and resisted of the "four treasures" as I call them.  Most adults don't want to be told how to have a spiritual or religious life, how to meditate or pray (and rightly so). What often isn't considered a part of "spirit work" is play.  And play is something most adults have gotten out of the habit of doing since puberty, or when the prospect of taking SATs descended on their horizon.

Play can take many forms and morphs as we move through life's continuum.  For someone who loved the activity of playing basketball or a musical instrument as a child, they sometimes find that the activity has changed into something else entirely by the time adulthood or middleage has arrived.  It no longer has "fun" attached to its description, but is more an effort at reliving what was once felt when engaging in it.  A young man of 25 years once admitted to me he didn't know how to have fun or what fun was anymore.  The drinking, skateboarding and hanging out he did as a late teen/early 20 year old no longer carried a thrill.  The truth of play changes as we age.  It's important to maintain it as it alters itself through our lives because of the stress-relieving, endorphin producing, spirit-enhancing ability it has in helping us maintain homeostasis/ wellness. Play is a deep aspect of what it means to be human, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are.

What constitutes play at any age? From play, delight, satisfaction, pleasure and humor often erupt. Play begins with curiosity and an availability of more of myself.  Interest is born and openness follows. A true mark of an ability to play can physiologically be found in the state of our breath.  When it has deepened, moving from the lower diaphragm and is markedly more regular, there is a decrease in tension.  This happens at play; when doing well or being good, or the concern over the product or performance produced is minimal, but the interest in the process of being fully in the activity is paramount. This can be witnessed in young children.  At play, they are exploring themselves and their boundaries, absorbed in the now of it. It can be seen in artists, craftsmen or wordsmiths delving deeply into their craft, so much so they can enter an altered state.  They, like children are in a union of sorts. The art of playing. The work of spirit.

Play is available in almost any activity.  In the above image of a basin of dirty dishes, play is possible.  Something opens in the visual interest of a round shape inside of a rectangular one; of a soap bubble pattern laying erratically over the top, somehow pleasing to the senses.  Play can be the impression (and enjoyment) of warm sudsy water running across skin, the sense of the quality of the shape of an object when wiping a sponge around it, the weight of a bowl.  Obviously, another part of us is present when the mundane chore of doing dishes, done a zillion times before, takes on a quality of interest and pleasure.  Some would call this a mindful state or being present. Those terms ring with a type of (heavy?) seriousness (not that play can't be serious-- watch a 3 year old bounce a ball for the first time).  Since I'm feeling a bit frisky at the moment, I shall dare to call it play.