MC #11 – Play [2 pages]

“Play” is unself-conscious action, or activity.

Children play to learn, which is why play is so important for them.

Adults learn from play, too, but that is not its fundamental purpose, which is rest and recovery from stress.

Spouses play together to establish and build their relationship with one another.

Couples play with others to establish and build their relationships with them, their children and their families, because it does, in fact, take a village, rather than a couple, to raise children.

Unself-conscious action is fundamental to us as human beings.  Play is a useful and effective way to take care of many concerns, especially resting and recovering from stress and fatigue.

We are primates and primates play to learn, to build relationships, to help and care, and to build identities.  We play more than any other primate. 

Play is important socially between spouses and between others in the community.  Play builds history and identity.  It builds relationships over time.  It is an opportunity to display many virtues.  And, it is an enormous opportunity for learning many things.

We need time to play with our spouses in order to maintain and build our relationships. 

We need play to enjoy, learn, improve and benefit from companionship, intimacy and sex!

We need play to update our conversations and re-familiarize ourselves with each other after extended periods of hard work. 

We need play to relax, to recover and to refresh ourselves. 

We need play to break our patterns of work in order to think new thoughts about the future. 

And, we need play as a place to invent our lives and our futures with one another.

Make time to play with your spouse, children and other families!