P is for Play
In an unpredictable, changing world, what we learn from playing could possibly be the make or break for human survival.
Do you remember your favourite game from when you were a kid? Was it climbing around a jungle gym? Dressing up your dog? Skipping ropes with friends? Building pillow forts? And do you recall how it felt being fully immersed in the activity and just purely enjoying yourself? Now, when was the last time, more recently, that you felt like that? Was it when you were playing a card game with friends? Cycling a new route to work? Having a crafty afternoon? Play is all around us yet we very often forget about its importance in our lives. More ‘serious’ things like work and chores require our attention. We feel we don’t have time to play and it would be too frivolous to even think about it. We have been taught that ‘serious problems’ need ‘serious solutions’. We can’t possibly have fun or enjoy the process of solving a serious problem. Or can we? This month we had a closer look at how to incorporate more Play into climate action because personally we think that doom and gloom mentality only leads to apathy and inaction. We firmly believe what we need more of is creativity, joy and hope. All of which are routed in the human impulse to play.
When enough people raise play to the status it deserves in our lives, we will find the world a better place.
– Dr Stuart Brown
Check out this month’s community Notion document and feel free to add any interesting articles, essays or podcasts that talk about the importance of Play.
This month’s take aways: Play by Dr. Stuart Brown
What exactly is Play? Play is (seemingly) without purpose, we forget about ourselves (are in flow and totally absorbed), we want to do it again because it is pleasurable and energises us and has no end goal.
Of all species on earth, humans are the biggest players. ‘We are built to play and built through play.’ Playing helps shape the brain in the early years of our human development and helps us foster resilience, adaptability and complex social skills.
Play is the purest expression of our humanity. It is the purest way for us to express our individuality. We feel most alive when we are in a state of play.
Play is a state of mind rather than an activity. Hobbies like sewing, model airplane building, kite flying etc. are most often play. The reality is anything could be play if we approach with the right mindset. Even work can be play. In fact the work that we find most fulfilling is usually a recreation or extension of the kind of play we used to engage in when we were kids.
Play sets the stage for cooperative socialisation. It nourishes trust, empathy, caring and sharing. Games, sports and free play between kids sets the foundation for their understanding of fairness and justice.
Play is essential for our capacity to adapt. What we learn from playing can be transferred into other novel contexts. When we are not up against life or death, trial and error brings out new ideas and innovation. We play and experiment because it’s fun and not because it might help us come up with the next big innovation. And many years later a paper airplane can lead to a Boeing 747.
When we stop playing, we start dying. This may sound harsh but studies have proven time and time again that once we stop playing our brains stop developing. Play creates and reenforces neurological pathways which are crucial in preventing brain degenerative diseases like dementia.
The impulse to create art is a result of the play impulse. Art and culture are something that the brain actively creates because it benefits us. Art promotes community integration and interaction. Art is part of a deep, preverbal communication that binds people together.
To prioritise Play in our lives doesn’t mean to avoid pain. Making all of life an act of play occurs when we recognise and accept that there may be some discomfort in play, and that every experience has both pleasure and pain.
Knowing your play personality can help you find your role in the climate movement. The different types as described in the book are: the joker, the director, the kinesthete, the explorer, the storyteller, the creative/artist, the collector and the competitor. You may be a mixture of some or all of them. Working out what your predominant play personality is, can help us act more targeted and focussed in the climate space. This online quiz might help you work it out.
In summary: We play because we want to, we choose to do it, we don't want to stop and we're drawn to it. But how might we apply these principles to climate action and environmental movements? Making climate action a form of play would potentially draw more people in while also promoting hope and joy rather than fear and despair.
Join the next book club: A natural history of transition by Callum Angus
Our next topic in the alphabet will be queer ecology – our interest in this topic got piqued after reading Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake and we felt like it would be the perfect topic for letter Q.
About the book:
This collection of beautifully fantastical short stories features trans characters experiencing all kinds of unexpected and nonlinear transformations. In one story, a swarm of insects is the main character. In another, a character becomes a rock. A trans man give birth to a cocoon. A boy curates a museum of found objects in the woods. Each story is surprising and moving, full of human emotion, and yet deeply grounded in the sounds, sights, smells, and textures of the natural world.
Join us for the discussion and workshop on the 1st of November at 7PM (GMT) – all tickets are donation based.
Join us for a Mindful Mending afternoon in London
Our first and last in person event for this year! A combination of meditation, yoga nidra and a mending lab that embraces slow living. Lisa from And the Future and Letizia from Leyton Yoga have collaborated to create an inspiring, enriching, unique afternoon where the art of mending meets the beautiful practice of meditation and mindfulness.
The workshop will take place on the 22nd October from 1–4pm at Leyton Yoga and tickets are £35. Drinks and snacks will be provided. Spaces are limited.
Thank you for reading this month’s newsletter and a special thank you the amazing people who joined our workshop – you made our day! If you want to join us for one of our upcoming events, make sure you follow us on Eventbrite or Meet Up. If you have any questions please add a comment to this post, DM or send us an email to hello@andthefuture.com
Lisa & Tash ✨