My Connections to Play

SPACE    

This is like my early memories without the boots, rubber gloves, plastic shovel and dog. My father was a hobby gardener so our yard had sand, seaweed, sawdust, manure and soil pretty much from May to September. A haven for a little girl who loved to get dirty.  

                                                                              TIME
     

 

I remember jokes  about the water not being able to go down the drain and being hosed down  outside often finished off my day. As an adult I still seem to get dirty at whatever I do much to the chagrin of my principal.                                 





                                                                                     LOVE                                                                                                        BELONGING                                                                              

                                          COMMUNITY 

The top picture looks across the river to the village I grew up in. My lower part of my backyard was one of those hills with pear, apple and cherry trees, above that was a huge garden and above that the house. This is not the actually orchard but there is the grass, flowers and trees. This was my place to escape,  imagine and dream. The village was my playground. My friend's father 'up the hill' was a contractor so there was lumber, tar many interest nooks and crannies to play in. Then there were wide open fields where a limb became a sword or a gun and a flower became a bandage. Many long hours running, laughing and enjoying my friends.

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
Khalil Gibran

I had a wagon, a bike and whatever we found in the neighborhood. I do not remember being in the house very much. My mother was a very hard worker and there was always work to do which may be part of the reason. I remember doing things like bringing lady bugs to the dinner table and my sister, elder by 11 years, feared I had mental problem. I remember one evening my sister was very stressed preparing for examinations and I was outside with my friends catching water from the eves in pails and chasing each other. I went in and asked her to join us. While she was 'shooing' this as ridiculous,  my mother suggested it might be an excellent idea. She ran around with us and took a few hits then returned much more relaxed to her studies. And of course, she aced the test.

Play produces feelings of pleasure which help you escape from two major creativity killers – stress and self-consciousness.
Jordan Ayan

Exercise is still the best stress reliever I have. When I am overwhelmed with life, even a walk around the block can help put it in perspective.

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

I am saddened that children living in this capital city surrounded by and ensconced in high rises  do not have the luxury of space, grass, trees and mud. There are play grounds with equipment, noise of traffic near by, parks that do not allow you on the grass and often days with air that demands you stay indoors. Even now, 50 years later I remember the freedom of running out the door, up or down the hill, smelling the clover, eating the sour grass and putting daisies under each other's chin and bringing home ghastly bouquets of dandelions home,helping burn the grass in the spring, rake the leaves in the fall and staying outside till dusk.

We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream.

Robert Coles
Contemporary American child psychologist

One final thought that made my early childhood enviable was the love of my father. He just like having me with him. I accompanied him on errands, introduced as  his daughter 'Bob'; walked side by side through his days off; had the passenger seat on many road trips; shared jokes; music;life. I knew he liked having me around. Also the community welcomed me - no fear to roam on the streets or through back yards. This sense of belonging and having a voice cannot be gotten from a computer or television set.