Creative play taken to extremes

At the south end of the property stands a half dozen imposing oak trees; their limbs are gnarled and bent but all of them grow out of sturdy trunks that stand remarkably straight considering the near constant wind that buffets the ridge. When I first walked through the area a year ago, I could picture a small writer’s shack in the spot. It would be a place where I would disappear to each morning to pen that next great American masterpiece, sort of like a modern-day Thoreau at the edge of my very own Walden Pond.

Of course, the buildings that already stood on the property badly needed attention so I shelved my writer’s shack fantasy for the short term and joined the family as we put sweat equity into replacing rotted windows and siding, cleaning, and painting. But I’d staked my claim, nonetheless. The south end of the farm, the part that drops a few feet below the rest, the area where the oaks shade the grass and the poplars on the shoreline catch the wind, that area belonged to the writer.

Over the weekend, however, interlopers trampled on my dream to put pen to paper in my own ten foot by ten foot log cabin under the oaks. The interlopers were my sons; when they looked at the grassy knoll that made me think writer’s shack, they were thinking zip line.

I couldn’t believe it. Not one son, but both of them thought a zip line strung thirty feet in the air between two oaks sitting more than one hundred feet apart was a good idea. I thought they were crazy. Not only did I object to the obvious dangers inherent in such a setup, the purposeless of it all made me shudder. They should be working. They should be studying. They should be reading!

Trust us, they said, as they headed for their self-designed amusement area. I went inside and that was where serendipity (or God’s grace) allowed me a different perspective. I’d flipped on Speaking of Faith, a show on National Public Radio; the day’s topic was the science of play. I listened intently and I learned a great deal about the activity underway at the south end of the farm – construction of a zip line. The seemingly purposeless act of play is actually a key component in learning trust and empathy. What’s more, it fosters our talents and problem-solving skills.

These insights into play come from Stuart Brown, a self-proclaimed workaholic physician who, at age 63, founded the National Institute for Play. Brown says that pleasurable, purposeless activity prevents violence and promotes adaptability to life's complication. Furthermore, an active play life is a quality of healthy individuals. When humans, and even animals, are safe and well fed, play will take over – if we allow it. Our culture, he said, doesn’t allow it often enough.

But what about flying thirty feet through the air on a zip line, Dr. Brown? Risk, he explained, is a necessary component to a truly valuable play activity. Parents shouldn’t strip risk from play, they only need mitigate the truly dangerous risks. He also said parents shouldn’t hover and they shouldn’t problem solve for their children. “Let them work out their problems their own way,” Brown advised.

Armed with this new insight, I walked over to the area where I have to believe someday a writer’s shack will stand. I looked at my son, perched on a branch like a squirrel. He wore a safety harness and a helmet; his legs were tightly wrapped around the branch as he clipped a pulley to a quarter inch steel cable. If he lost his grip, the harness would keep him from plummeting to the ground. With a hard push, he sailed overhead and then seconds later, hit the opposing end of the line – the other oak – fairly hard. I then understood the helmet. When he lowered himself to the ground, he told me he still had to figure out some way to cushion his landing at the low end of the zip line. “I think I’ll use tires,” he said.

It appeared Dr. Brown had been on the mark regarding play. By constructing a zip line, the boys were problem solving, adapting, working together, and being creative. What’s more, without input from me, they had already mitigated the most severe risk they'd face with their zip line -- falling. And, they were having fun. Their play, when viewed this way, wasn’t at all purposeless.

So the writer’s shack won’t get built this year either. But that’s okay. I don’t write with a pen anyway.