Spring is nature’s way of saying ‘Let’s party.’ – Robin Williams
Spring is the time
of plans and projects. – Leo Tolstoy
Spring will start one week from
today. We are so close to having made it through a dark cold winter and now it
is time to have fun.
If the reader follows the author
on Facebook, the reader has seen that the author has started new adventures in
2024.
Why do we need to play and have
fun in life? According to Greg McKeown in Essentialism:
Play
expands our minds in ways that allow us to explore: to germinate new ideas or
see old ideas in a new light. It makes us more inquisitive, more attuned to
novelty, more engaged. (p. 86)
Here are examples that Howell
lists in Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People
where people were playing, and new ideas were developed:
Columbus
was at play when it dawned on him that the world was round. Newton was at play
in his mind when he saw the apple tree and suddenly conceived of the force of
gravity. Watson and Crick were playing with possible shapes of the DNA molecule
when they stumbled upon the double helix. Shakespeare played with iambic
pentameter his whole life. Mozart barely lived a waking moment when he was not
at play. Einstein’s thought experiments are brilliant examples of the mind
invited to play.
By
playing, we allow our minds to relax and look at ideas and problems from a
different perspective.
ACTION: As spring is arriving soon,
how are you going to play to stimulate your brain?
Resources
·
McKeown, G. (2014). Essentialism. Crown Business.
·
Howell, E. M.D. (2011). Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best
from Your People. Harvard Business Review Press.
