Playing Together for Fun: Creative Play and Lifelong Games

There's an online resource called "Helpguide" that provides "expert, non-commercial information on mental health and lifelong wellness." They invited me to help them develop an article about fun and games and play and health and stuff. Their expertise in mental health and wellness helped put my understanding of fun into a powerful, relevant, and even more accessible context. And the result is a wonderfully broad resource - so inclusive that it makes one believe that it is really OK to play.

The article defines play and makes the play/flow connection. It spells out the real, lifelong benefits of play, and how it impacts the development of social skills, personal strengths, learning, health, the sense of connection, the ability to persevere, the path to joy and happiness. It tells you why it is important to play everywhere, at home, and even at work. It spells out the laughter/health connections - yes, it is really OK to laugh. It describes how play makes us more intelligent, and fosters emotional development. And then I get to talk about some of my favorite "pointless games."

I've spent a lot of my career trying to help adults give each other, and themselves, permission to play. This article, and the collaboration that produced it, may very well prove to be the ultimate play permit. You might want to send a copy to your boss.