“All work and no play doesn’t just make Jill and Jack dull, it kills the potential of discovery, mastery, and openness to change and flexibility and it hinders innovation and invention.” ~ Joline Godfrey

Stress – we all have to maneuver the demands of life. Stress is defined as “the brain’s response to any demand.” Obviously, not all stress is bad, although we tend toward a negative connotation of the word. Problem-solving, growing in understanding, overcoming obstacles all require a stressor to be present. However, when stress is chronic, our brain’s response is to release higher quantities of cortisol which can have devastating effects on our emotional, mental, and physical health. Rebecca Bernstein, in her article, “The Mind and Mental Health: How Stress Effects the Brain” says this, “Chronic stress can: disrupt synapse regulation, resulting in the loss of sociability and the avoidance of interactions with others; kill brain cells; and reduce the size of the brain. Chronic stress has a shrinking effect on the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for memory and learning.”

With this in mind, it is easy to see why Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi noticed this third quality in highly creative people:

3. Creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.

Nothing shuts me down creatively like a barrage of negative circumstances that are beyond my control. However, I have learned some things over the years. I now have a secret weapon that I pull out when life tries to overwhelm me – laughter!

I have had some seriously demoralizing seasons in my life. About five years ago, in one of those particularly difficult seasons, I found myself in bed dealing with pain all throughout my body (due to those high cortisol levels). I was trying to find something to watch on TV that mimicked my mood – some deep emotionally gut-wrenching, melodramatic chick flick, I’m sure – but alas, there was none. I kept passing up the channel that hosted the weekend marathon of Duck Dynasty and I remember thinking in my air of superiority, “I just don’t get the popularity of this show.” But, I committed to watching one episode. By the end of the weekend, I had laughed until my sides ached (and not because of those elevated cortisol levels). Good grief, my kids pulled the same kinds of crazy antics on each other. I got it! I got the premise of the show, and it was funny!

You know what else happened? My pain subsided, and I was able to creatively work on a writing project that was dear to my heart. Guess what science has found in studying the effects of playfulness on the brain: “Play impacts the brain by causing the prefrontal cortex to become bigger and faster. This part of the brain is more efficient at making plans, solving problems, regulating and identifying emotions, and all things required for successful social interaction.” Sarah Punkoney, Stay at Home Educator.

So, Jack and Jill, make sure you play! Laughter really is the best medicine.

Creative Playfulness Blog Post
https://stayhomeeducator.com/play-impacts-early-brain-development/

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash