Last week I was looking at children's play 70 years ago and on reflection I don't suppose it has changed much over the millennia. I'll bet kids in the Stone age were playing with sticks and twigs and climbing trees! I'm afraid the advent of electronics has changed a lot of this and I wonder how it will affect the way modern kids grow up.
The inspiration for these articles comes to me from all sorts of things and what triggered my interest in play was a report I heard of an initiative in Nottinghamshire called 'Men in Sheds' which is aimed at alleviating loneliness in ageing men who live on their own. They have set up a workshop and encourage men to attend, meet new people, learn new skills and perhaps develop interests which will enhance their lives. As you know, I have a shed and love doing stuff in there and I often call it 'The Playroom' because that is exactly what it is, an old bloke's version of playing out with my mates.
This got me to thinking about the value of playfulness right through life. This is not the same as leisure, there is a world of difference between passively watching TV and actually doing something which in any other context would be seen as work but isn't because it is done by choice and inclination. Walking, gardening, volunteering and pursuing hobbies all come under this heading. They are active and like kid's play, have both mental and physical benefits. I know that three hours on my feet in the shed is good for me and funnily enough my present situation where I can't read is proving to be a good thing because I have substituted the shed for sitting in my rocking chair and it is doing me the world of good!
The conclusion I have come to is that a person who has lost the inclination to play, to explore new things and actually enjoy doing them has missed out on one of the best ways to enjoy life in general and retirement in particular. I look at my friends and co-conspirators and they do wonderful things, they are not bored and the results of their playing out can be quite astonishing. I look at the complicated patterns my daughter knits, I see that a friend of mine who had a serious accident and is badly disabled went out into his shed, tried something new and became a brilliant wood-carver. He is so good that at the moment he is making a full sized figure for his local War Memorial. This is playing out at its best and in case you think that women are barred from sheds and machinery, I know a lady in Barlick who used to spend hours watching Johnny Pickles in his shed at Federation Street. She caught the bug, got her own lathe and became an accomplished wood turner. So be adventurous! Take play seriously! It will change your life.
Johnny Pickles playing out in his shed at Federation Street in the 1960s.
