“There is a disease I know – it’s called being too serious.”
~ Hafiz

Do you work too hard and play too little? Play isn’t just for kids. Adults, too, need to play because growing older doesn’t mean we lose the need for novelty and pleasure. As the writer Carroll Bryant puts it memorably: “Growing up is mandatory but growing old is optional. “We’ve built to play and built by play,” says Dr. Stuart Brown, a leading researcher on play. Play brings joy to our lives. It keeps our creative juices flowing, helps build resilience against the harshness of life. And it is vital to building relationships when engage in fun activities with family and friends. So, go ahead and plan each day with some playtime in mind.

Here is a selection of quotes, prose and poems on play to guide us along.

“Playthings” by Rabindranath Tagore, Literature Nobel laureate

Child, how happy you are sitting in the dust,
playing with a broken twig all morning.
I smile at your play with that little bit
of a broken twig. I am busy with my
accounts, adding up figures by the hour.
Perhaps you glance at me and think,
“What a stupid game to spoil
your morning with!” Child, I have
forgotten the art of being absorbed
in sticks and mud-pies. I seek out
costly playthings, and gather lumps of
gold and silver. With whatever you find
you create your glad games, I spend
both my time and my strength
over things I never can obtain.
In my frail canoe I struggle to cross
the sea of desire, and forget that I too
am playing a game.

Just Kidding

Go ahead and play –
play and laugh until
your stomach hurts,
until no one in heaven
believes you when
you cry, for they know
that you’re just kidding.

~ Wallace Fong

Next, an Excerpt from “Green, Green is My Sister’s House,” a poem by Mary Oliver, from A Thousand Mornings (2012)

I try to be good but sometimes
a person just has to break out and
act like the wild and springy thing
one used to be.  It’s impossible not
to remember wild and not want to go back.  
So, if someday you can’t find me you might
look into that tree or—of course
it’s possible—under it.

An interview with Canadian physician, Dr. Gabor Maté

Dr Gabor Maté (b 1944) is a Canadian doctor specializing in childhood development, trauma and its potential lifelong impact on physical and mental health. Many of us spend long hours each day seeking validation from others that we forget to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Here, Dr  Maté reflects on the perils of sacrificing these precious moments and encourages all of us to think about how we can build more time for playfulness and joy into our lives.