In his book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, Dr. Christopher Vaughan advises us to spend more time playing. Play, he says, is whatever you love to do, and spending more time doing what you love to do will improve your work and your relationships.
“There isn’t any formula for play,” he told The Dallas Morning News, September 18, 2012. “It’s what works for you. It can be a nap or reading a book or taking a walk or having a fantasy.”
Vaughan founded the National Institute for Play, and its website at nifplay.org provides a number of reasons for scheduling a few hours for play this afternoon or this evening.
“Play is the gateway to vitality,” the website stresses. “It generates optimism, seeks out novelty, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery, gives the immune system a bounce, fosters empathy and promotes a sense of belonging and community.”