My Connections to Play

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.”
― Charles Schaefer 


"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." 
-Plato

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”
―Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

I first two quotes I can relate to my childhood, and the third I found reflected my sense of self now.  
 

My brother and I would spend hours riding our bikes around town all year long.  It was essential to my youth.  I even remember getting up at 5 one morning to have a garage sale to sell my old bike so that I could get a new one. 

No matter where I spent my time, I was always doing some sort of art project.  I do believe this was the exact set that I had. 

I loved playing monopoly with my grandma during the summer.  It also came in handy because we did not have T.V. in my house for most of my childhood. 





Growing up in a time where we had neighborhood block parties in Arizona I knew everyone in the neighborhood at a young age.  During the day my grandma always allowed us to go between friends house, and we played outside.  We created ramps to go over our bikes with and my brother and his friend built a race car.  Now it was just made out of plywood, but it was the best creation ever!  Two of us would push and one got to drive it up and down the street, and then we would rotate.  Along with riding our bikes, that was the best outdoor activity.  When my dad would get a couple days off from work, he would take us camping.  He taught us how to read animal tracks, and how to pay attention to the world around us.
Now out at my mom's house we always had a huge yard.  So I spent a lot of time out in these old wooden structures, and would make them my "house".  If I wasn't out swimming, I was out in that house creating my own world. 
I do not think that play today is the same for everyone as it was 20 years ago.  Society has changed, children use to go outside without fear of kidnapping.  Now parents have a close watch on their children, and with housing growing so much there leaves little room for having backyards that I use to. 

I really enjoyed my childhood in regards to play.  I was always given the opportunity to create things.  That has affected me as an adult, because I tend to be an artistic person.  I love that during the summers I was able to travel to different places to see, and experience new things.  I was in a family that came from all walks of life, and each person in my family introduced me to something new.  It was a blessing!