September 6, 2020

Play hard

I have written a little before about my past life when I was a “New Games Trainer” for the New Games Foundation. I actually got paid to play. One of my best jobs ever. We would conduct weekend trainings for adults who worked in a variety of settings. The first two hours we would spend in a game session with the trainees, just playing. By the end of that two hours, their minds were blown open to the possibility of playing again as adults. At the time, we recognized that most adults had lost the ability to play. We were able to give play back to them, such a gift.

I have tried to remain playful ever since and continued to lead play sessions through medical school and residency. Life then beat me back from that for a while and I needed to re-learn to play again. I may write more about this later, but now I want to remind every one to find some play and joy in your life. It can help with survival and work-life balance, which this article gives suggestions for.

Here is a little extra fun project: make your own catapult from newspaper. Who hasn't always wanted a catapult of their own? I have.

Wash your hands, cover your nose, keep safe six, and “play hard, play fair, nobody hurt”*

*the New Games motto

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/at-home/how-to-build-a-catapult-from-newspaper.html

https://betsybrownmd.substack.com/p/july-29-2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Games_Book

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/smarter-living/adults-play-work-life-balance.html