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You were born with the drive to play and to create. You might have forgotten the impulse, but it is still there inside of you. As Ashley Montagu suggested in his book Growing Young, adults learn from children about the essential nature of fun and abandon in order to prevent "psychosclerosis," the hardening of the mind. He prescribed the following traits of the child to avoid this dreaded condition:
  • The need for love
  • Friendship
  • Sensitivity
  • The need to think soundly
  • The need to know
  • The need to learn
  • The need to work
  • The need to organize
  • Curiosity
  • A sense of wonder
  • Playfulness
  • Imagination
  • Creativity
  • Open-mindedness
  • Flexibility
  • Experimental mindedness
  • Resiliency
  • A sense of humor
  • Joyfulness
  • Laughter and tears
  • Honesty and trust
  • Optimism
  • Compassionate intelligence
  • Dance
  • Song
Creativity and play help you gain confidence, self-understanding and self-esteem. They increase your concentration, help you learn to take risks and create balance and order. You can make mistakes more freely and solve problems with increased flexibility—skills that enhance all your relationships. Play supports innovation, invites you to savor a moment, engages your senses and helps you see the beauty in all things. It leads you to imagine unlimited possibilities.

Published 10/27/2009

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