Big Idea Daily | Play
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How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soulby Stuart Brown |
“The beneficial effects of getting just a little true play can spread through our lives, actually making us more productive and happier in everything we do.”STUART BROWN, M.D. |
BIG IDEA
What is your play personality?
FROM THE BOOK“As we grow older, we start to have strong preferences for certain types of play over others.
Some things float your boat, other don’t. Over the years, I’ve observed that people have a dominant mode of play that falls into one of eight types. I call these play personalities. These categories are not scientifically based, but I’ve found them to be generally accurate.
No one is a perfect example of a single play personality type; most of us are a mix of these categories. At different times and in different situations, people might find themselves playing in a mode that is different than their dominant type. I’ve found that most people recognize themselves in these archetypes and find them useful for discovering their own play personality.”
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Brian's Notes
Play personalities.
Stuart identifies eight of them and gives us some detail on each. Here’s a quick snapshot:
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The Joker. The class clown or practical joker falls into this category. Loves nonsense.
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The Kinesthete. The kinesthete loves to move—whether it’s football or yoga or dance, they do their best thinking and feel most alive when moving.
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The Explorer. Explorers love to discover new places—whether the terrain is physical, emotional or mental, they love pushing their edges and finding new vistas.
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The Competitor. The competitor loves to play by creating games and playing to win—whether it’s solo or social, they love keeping score and coming out on top.
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The Director. The director loves to organize—the party givers and excursion leaders who take us on adventures.
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The Collector. The collector loves to have the most interesting collection of objects or experiences—whether that’s coins, toy trains, antiques, shoes, cars or whatever fascinates them.
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The Artist/Creator. Artists/creators love making things—whether that’s painting or sculpting or knitting or sewing or gardening, they’re playing when they’re creating.
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The Storyteller. Play for storytellers focuses on imagination. Our novelists, cartoonists, and screenwriters, performers and also those whose greatest joy is engaging in those creations.
The more we can identify our play personality, the more we can consciously set out to ensure our lives are full of play.
Can you see yourself in any of those descriptions and identify how you currently engage in certain play activities?
My dominant play personality appears to be the Competitor with a mix of Creator. I love to set ambitious creative targets for myself and “compete” with myself to get them done. I get great joy in keeping track of how I’m doing and pushing myself to “win” in my own little game. I smile as I type that. :)
You?!
Big Ideas
01: WHAT IS PLAY?
02: PLAY PERSONALITIES
03: SEA SQUIRTS
04: WORK + PLAY
05: ONE BIG SANDBOX
“When people know their core truths and live in accord with what I call their “play personality,” the result is always a life of incredible power and grace.”STUART BROWN, M.D. |
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