Play: How It Shapes The
Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown is a
book after my own heart. After
all, I am a person whose company is named Recess and I’ve been told my inner
child is not very inner at all. I believe
in play. It is nice to have
someone provide handy evidence that what I believe turns out to be a good
thing.
Consider the sea squirt. In its early life, it has a rudimentary
brain and swims around exploring.
However, “The adult sea squirt becomes the couch potato of the sea. In a surprisingly macabre twist, the
sea squirt digests its own brain.
Without a need to explore or find its sustenance, the creature devours its
own cerebral ganglia. It’s like
something out of a Stephen King book:
‘All work and no play make sea squirt a brain-eating zombie’” (p. 48).
We need to play and we need to play actively lest we all turn into brain-eating
zombies.
The book describes the various
kinds of play, the ways play develops our brains and our social structures, and
provides some ideas about how to start playing again if we have, unfortunately,
stopped. It is written in an
accessible but smart way—a playful book with much to offer.
Doing things we love or doing
things we don’t love with a playful heart helps us grow and thrive and connect
and give. It replenishes our
souls.
Go play. It’s good for you.
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