Play and Create

Mary and I went to the Grandparents’ breakfast early this morning with Rivers and Rhodes. There was energy to spare, and we loved seeing smiles galore and hugs from devoted teachers. Rivers is in fifth grade, Rhodes in kindergarten—the last year the brothers will be in the same school for a while. We peeked in their classrooms to meet their teachers. There were bright, splashy colors everywhere, happy posters, and encouraging sayings; the themes: learning is fun and you’re gonna do great. The positive atmosphere and steady results belie how every kid answers, “What did you learn at school today?”  

“Nuthin.” 

“What was your favorite class?” 

“Recess.” 

Mary and I were easily transported back to simpler times with fond, clear memories. Learning was fun and we remember having great friends. We were all expected to create--write a story, draw a picture, make something crafty, paint by numbers, sculpt with clay, play a song. It was a time of expression and exposure to everything new. While we were graded for right and wrong answers, we were encouraged for trying to create.  

“That’s a pretty flower you’ve painted.” 

“It’s a rocket.” 

“Oh, it’s very colorful, isn’t it.” 

“Those are flames.” 

“Here’s your star.” 

We were all expected to create--write a story, draw a picture, make something crafty, paint by numbers, sculpt with clay, play a song.

Recess was probably our favorite class, too. Free play is so important for children because it's how we humans learn to invent using imagination, solve problems, and practice vital social skills. Experts say play is also important for adults to maintain brain health. Healthy play is a break to engage in an enjoyable, positive activity that uses a different part of the brain than the one we grind with. 

Churchill took breaks from leading a war effort to paint. I play guitar to soothe my number crunching brain parts. I would like to say golf does the trick but it's hard to decompress when your natural slice may put an innocent octogenarian two fairways over in urgent care. A professional musician may need to solve economic equations (as if they are solvable); a lawyer may need to write believable fiction (Oh, wait. That’s not a break – kidding.). You know what I mean. 

“Healthy play is a break to engage in an enjoyable, positive activity that uses a different part of the brain than the one we grind with. ”

It is unfortunate that as we progress through the educational system, sloppy creativity is engineered out of the process. Creations are judged with ever increasing rigor and soon only the “best” survive. Truly the formulas for excellence may be rigid but the baby that gets thrown out with the bathwater is that it is healthy for all of us to create – even if the offspring of our imagination should never see the light of day. The ability to create something out of nothing is a unique human capability that is a touch of the Divine. 

So maybe our creations won’t end up in the Guggenheim or even the clearance aisle at Wal Mart. Or maybe they will. Either way, to create is a reverent expression of our God-breathed gifts. And it is doubly healing if the act is playful and fun. So, rather than live vicariously through our TV, let’s paint bad pictures, and sing off key, and sculpt unrecognizable lumps, and write terrible fiction, and torture the ivories on our piano, and craft rickety furniture, and cook new dishes for the dog, and... 

Our brain will thank us, and we might even get good. If not, “Here’s your star.”