Playground of the Mind

Despite growing up the oldest of in a family of nine children and never-ending chores, my childhood abounded with playtime. The woods and fields near home, the enormous playground at school, and even the local library in the center of our small Maine town—all brimmed with “scope for the imagination,” as Anne Shirley described it in Anne of Green Gables.

On June 11, the world celebrated (supposedly) the International Day of Play. As we have become more obsessed with schedules and play dates, I fear we spend less and less time actually playing. It is time to invest in play—for children and adults. And in playgrounds—for the body and the mind.

As the biggest-ever soccer World Cup gets underway on the same day, I’m setting up my own mental playground for the duration. While I watch the games (at least as many as I have liberty and leisure for) on the playing fields of Canada, the US, and Mexico, I hope to sit at my desk—playing. And hopefully, catching some of the Stanley Cup too.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” –George Bernard Shaw

My rural neighborhood in Chile boasts no playground. It does offer adventure if you appreciate a challenge: aggressive loose dogs, bumpy roads, dust and spiders, and an overpopulation of ruthless rabbits. Behind our house, looms a barren hill (small mountain?) which would take you a couple of days to hike among the cacti and boulders. I have taken up birdwatching though—a fascinating covey of California quail has moved into the area.

Near our church in the city, a miniscule plaza keeps the children—and parents—amused before and after the service. The playground consists of a few swings, a slide, and a couple of cement benches that burn your buns in the summer and freeze ’em in the winter. And oh, watch out for the bird poop! However, you’ll also notice a series of hoses snaking through the grassless plots to water the lavender. The fragrance wafts over you, sharply spicy.

Playing Like Children

But let me take you to the elementary school playground where I grew up. To be sure, the play equipment wouldn’t meet any current safety standards, but the place was near to paradise compared to the miserable weedy lots of many of the world’s children’s only access.

Think fresh green fields, unfettered space for multiple games, bordered by woods full of wildflowers and ferns. I learned songs for every occasion, played kickball, built houses with rocks, and joined the Pigtail League after school. In the winter, they plowed the snow into high-banked paths where we performed The Wizard of Oz, skipping down the Yellow Brick Road. (Yikes, yellow snow?)

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” –Fred Rogers

Play, according to Google, is the universal language of learning, creativity, and development. Mr. Rogers suggests that play offers the best opportunity to prepare for the game of life. Einstein used his imagination to solve problems and spark innovation. The “playground” is essential for our sense of fulfillment at any age.

“Play is the highest form of research.” –Albert Einstein

Older adults, like me, grew up with chunks of playtime undirected and even unsupervised by our elders. As children, we acquired a tremendous advantage that has no doubt served us well. In contrast, today’s overprotected generation seldom plays alone, walks anywhere by themselves, or participates in any risky activities (even if the risk isn’t physical). Today’s kids seldom stretch themselves or do much hands-on except screens.

Everything is online and from a distance.

Or Not?

Creativity researcher Kyung Hee Kim, a professor at the College of William and Mary, observes that creativity and imagination in children have decreased since 1990. She notes: “Children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous…less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect…things…and less likely to see things from a different angle.”

Wow. Just wow.

“Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.” — Anonymous 

Why the decline in creativity? Lack of playtime, I’d suggest. Since pundits encourage parents to provide a busy, active childhood for their kids, they book every spare minute with activities and lessons. Even when the kids do get some unscheduled time, they tend to be over-supervised. They don’t find many opportunities to explore, experiment, discover, and PLAY—on or off the playground.

Of course, as capable multitaskers and skilled in technology, these kids view themselves as capable and cutting-edge. I’ve chuckled over teens who communicated via text while sitting in the same room, but seriously, that is no joke.

Perhaps they are knowledgeable, but they are also emotionally/socially immature, creatively underdeveloped, and addictively dependent on social media—705 hours a year’s worth, according to one source I read recently. I’d bet more accurate figures might easily top twice that.

So, instead of a richly satisfying childhood, theirs is one often stuffed with empty calories. Because if you never get the chance to be bored, it’s almost impossible to develop creativity.  

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” –John F. Kennedy

Now obviously, I’m speaking in general terms. I’m certainly not against hobbies or sports or video games. I’m not anti-Internet. Yet today’s overwhelmed generation has way too many options and suffers from decision fatigue.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

If it’s not fun, why are we doing it?

It’s not just the kids who don’t play enough. For us adults, the world revolves more around the achievement of goals. We think, If I’m not accomplishing anything productive, what good is it?

Or we “play” online. And track it. And post and promote it.

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play.” – L.P. Jacks

Plenty of fake fun exists out there too. Psychologist and author Mary Pipher points out that more films are made “about prostitutes than schoolteachers, more television shows about serial killers than grandparents.” That is more than sad, it’s tragic.

So how can we address the problem of our dwindling imagination and creativity? Let’s head to some physical and mental playgrounds…and play more.

“The most radical things you can do in America are to slow down and to talk to each other. If you do these things, you will improve our country.” –quoted by Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World

I decided to make up a Playlist. Not music, at least not exclusively music. What can we have fun with on the playground of our minds? Your play list won’t look the same as mine, naturally, but brainstorm with me for a few minutes.

Creativity Playground

The whole concept of brainstorming generates novel and original ideas. Comfortable as they may feel, our tried-and-true routines (AKA ruts) don’t always do us good. Try new things!

Travel somewhere you’ve never visited before, even if it’s only in the next county. Sample new foods, cook an unfamiliar dish. Concoct a different smoothie, sip new teas. (That’s how I found chai latte.) Make new friends. (But keep the old.)

“My imagination is a three-hundred-ring circus.” –Dean Koontz, Seize the Night

We learn by doing. Some say 10,000 hours of practice can turn you into an expert in anything. So study something instead of scrolling. What have you always wanted to know? (Antique furniture. Whoa, where did that come from?) Design yourself a YouTube course, and you don’t even have to walk out your front door. (Although it would be better if you did.)

Here in Chile, I meet many women my age whose lives seem basically over. They’ve mentally shut down, closed the doors, and lost interest in pursuing anything that costs effort. Some even attend church only to be coddled and entertained…not to be challenged. Secure in the status quo, but they have forgotten how to laugh and learn and serve and play.

Play the What-if Game: If you had zero responsibilities for the next year, what would you do? (Travel around the world.) If you earned a doctorate, what would it be in? (History, not Literature, which is a surprise to me too.) If you inherited the long-lost uncle’s fortune, what would you invest in? (Inner city soccer clubs, or check out the playgrounds at Kids Around the World).

Don’t look stuff up all the time. Go to the library and research it. Or better yet, make it up. Invent something!

Nature Playground

Get outside as often as you can. Sunshine doses us with Vitamin D, and any kind of water heals. The sound of its music lifts the soul. I commit to taking my time on the porch swing. Strolling in a park or along a beach isn’t a luxury, it is essential medicine for the mind and spirit.

“Play is not frivolous; it is brain building.” –The Open School

The joy I remember, playing with my cousins beside the Roaring Brook at Maine’s Baxter State Park, cannot be overrated. Fresh air, food, and life never seemed so wonderful. Bless the aunt and uncle who took my sister and me to picnic at that special “natural” playground. I can still hear the brook’s thunder, sniff the woodsmoke, and taste the s’mores.

And while I confess to dreading the frequent watering hours in the semi-desert yard of my present home, I revel in the climbing bougainvillea and silver-green spears of the spiraling olive tree. And who wouldn’t like to watch the palms stretch their necks skyward? Playing in a garden—whether big plots or small patches—yields great rewards.

Art Playground

Adult coloring books have become very popular. I’ve never quite caught the enthusiasm, but by all means, go for it if that appeals to you. I’m a scrapbooking addict myself, and I just can’t wait to try out my new chalk markers in a black-paper sketch book or experiment with creative journaling in my other invitingly blank books. Don’t you just love paper and pens?

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

That’s probably why I enjoyed paper dolls as a child. Every fall my sister and I anticipated Christmas as much for the Sears Wish Book as for our gifts. From the pages of the catalogue, we cut entire families of dolls, along with every item of furniture and décor their mansions might require. Years later, during my quilting streak, I made my little girls quilts featuring dolls, one appliquéd, the other stenciled.

I’ve dabbled in knitting and crochet, cross stitch, calligraphy, and painting. Pass me the art and craft supplies—in boxes, bags, and plastic tubs—and I’ll play all day. My father-in-law, in his nineties, collects moss, acorns, and pinecones on his daily jaunt around the block in his motorized wheelchair. Then he fashions nature’s materials into birdhouses, cottages, and figurines. None of the family ever realized he was an artist until after he retired.

Music resounds over every playground, of course. You’re allowed to play with your voice. Karaoke, anyone? Try out different instruments, different accents, different roles in a drama. It doesn’t all need to be serious.  

Games Playground

What do you consider playground fun and games? For us, it’s puzzles every Thanksgiving and Christmas and occasional long weekends. It’s all-night Monopoly marathons and wild, LOUD family Rook tournaments (where cans of Coke have been thrown). It means Hockey Night in Canada from the cradle. My husband plays a round of golf whenever he gets a chance, which isn’t often, but his cousin gifts him a bird figure each time he gets a birdie (which happens even less often!)

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” –Diane Ackerman

Here in Chile, soccer—the “beautiful game”—reigns supreme. Right now, everyone—grown-ups included—is busy collecting fútbol trivia stickers. Like baseball cards, only, you know… I appreciate that soccer is important worldwide as a sport that all kids can enjoy, whether affluent or underprivileged and impoverished. In the Chiloé Islands, the children rolled plastic bags into a ball and set up a couple of rocks or stumps as goalposts. And voilá, they played!

Literature Playground

To me, a library or a bookstore transforms into a sort of playground. Nothing—nothing—is as much like playing as reading a book, as far as I’m concerned. Unless, perhaps, it’s planning and writing one.😊 Some writers writhe and sweat over their work, but not me. I savor every minute of it, from the idea stage through research and character development diaries to the crafting of The End and final edits.

“Life must be lived as play.” –Plato

Sometimes I’ll drop those What Ifs into a story. Once I scribbled a year-long fantasy journal about my life in a parallel universe located in the spare bedroom of my home. Yes, it was silly. Yes, it was just for me. And yes, it was a barrel of fun.

I’ve mentioned before that a popular Chilean party game consists of choosing random small items and swapping personal stories about them. I’ve been toying with a book series about that idea for a while. Who knows? For me, that’s fun on the playground of the mind.

History Playground

And have you ever told your family’s yarns at a party or reunion? What a priceless legacy these sagas comprise. For my husband, there’s the distant past in Africa, the vaudeville-performer great-grandpa, the years spent in Canada’s north woods among the Cree First Nations. For me, it’s Wandering Pierre and the French connection, the farm in central Maine, the annual cousins’ trip to Bar Harbor.

My children will talk about growing up in Chile, dressing their cats in World Cup soccer jerseys, and watching Germany whoop Brazil at a mall downtown. They’ll remember the pen pal in the Ivory Coast, the long drives over the Andes and across the pampa to Uruguay, the Christmas Day swims, the furloughs when they knew every airport from Buenos Aires to Calgary. (Slight exaggeration.)

“Many things can wait. Children cannot.” –Gabriela Mistral, Chilean Nobel laureate

An Emory University study demonstrates the positive impact on children of knowing their family history. Those who know more stories show “higher levels of emotional wellbeing, and also higher levels of identity achievement.” We build more resilient future generations when we know who we are.

And, I might add, when we play together.

But over-reliance on technology, information, and work leads us away from the wisdom and emotional and spiritual intelligence we can gain from older folks. Unfortunate the family that never plays with parents and grandparents.

When I visit Maine, my mother and I often make the rounds of the local cemeteries where we have loved ones buried. I took my daughter a few years ago. A pilgrimage to another kind of playground. Full of joy, nevertheless.

Protest at the Playground

So I’ve decided I’m just not going to complain anymore. I am going to choose joy, and choose the disciplines and habits that lead to joy: play, celebration, rest, trust in Jesus. I want my legacy to amount to more than an eternal pity party.

“Joy is not a luxury for peaceful times, but a revolutionary act of resistance in chaotic ones.” –Deleyna Marr, The Work of Joy

I declare myself a revolutionary, deeply involved in the resistance.

Would you join me at the playground? What’s on your Playlist?