Our group, stranded in the desert

  After a tough week of work, I was on the road for adventure. For a friends birthday, we threw bikes and tents in the back of our cars and drove to Moab Utah. While driving out to this desert playground, I listened to an audiobooks about sociology and play. When we hit the trails, the connection was clear between play, well-being and biking. We were, scientifically speaking, a bunch of adults playing. How were we playing (according to Stuart Brown)? First, we were fully engaged. There’s no cell phone service in Moab so we weren’t checking facebook. Also riding mountain bikes requires focus. A moment of distraction could mean riding over that cactus or missing a turn. Stuart also says play is when participants will handicap themselves to allow play to continue together. The group of riders ranged from the occasional rider to professional riders. The best rider on the team rode in the front and – with his birthday cap waving in the air — would slow down to ride in the back and joke with our slowest riders. We were fully engaged, not focused on a purpose and continuously coming back together and — according to the researcher – playing. After a multi-hour ride, we split up and one group aimed for a downhill ride and the other agreed to pick us up (with the truck). There was miscommunications and mistiming. When we reached the end, our ride was missing and there was no cell phone service. Our water was limited, it was at least 90 degrees and there was no shade. One rider had an injured ankle. We had every reason to be emotional. Yet, everyone was remarkable calm and relaxed, they were even joking around. How could this be? We were happy because we had just spent hours upon hours playing on our bikes. We leap frogged each other through the orange desert, rolled over slick rock, and wooped and shouted as turns got exciting. This element of play was particularly insightful for me because it was on my Moab road trip audiobook.  The author had referenced Stuart Browns work on the importance of play*. Eventually, maybe after an hour or more, two people peeled off to ride to town to resolve it and shortly after that our ride found us. There was profuse apologizing and not really any blaming. And really, what good would the blaming do? Instead there were two way conversations, ‘I could have done this’. It was very constructive. We were in a tough situation, but what impact would the different outlooks have had on the overall result? If there was blaming, I doubt there would have been as much growth all parties discussing what they could have done. All of this made me think: What could just a little of this energy lead to in the corporate world? How many people could rise to the next level when there’s fun instead of blame? It seems far fetching to integrate into the work world. But so did integrating good humor in our situation. I would have had a tough time imagining it, until I saw it. So, just maybe, this could be possible in our nine to five leading to more fun and fulfillment.  

* If you’re curious about the research:

Why should we play? Start with the negative consequences of lack of play found in the research. There’s negative impact to any creature who has been deprived of play. Stuart Brown studied play in rats. Two rats smell a cat collar and they both hid. The one deprived of play won’t come out – ever – and sadly they died. The one that had played during it’s development will eventually begin exploring again. So, the author connects that play is critical to all creatures existence. As far as play in humans, Stuart Brown first began to understand play when studying violence. He found that some of our most violent criminals were completely deprived of play as children. We need play for happiness. We need play for empathy. “I have gathered and analyzed thousands of case studies that I call play histories. I have found that remembering what play is all about and making it part of our daily lives are probably the most important factors in being a fulfilled human being. The ability to play is critical not only to being happy, but also to sustaining social relationships and being a creative, innovative person.” ― Stuart Brown, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul