Play

The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.
G K Chesterton

We think play is just for children. It is what children do before they have to start having grown-up responsibilities. Play is care-free. It is the case, however, that play is how children get ready for their grown-up responsibilities. This is obvious in the animal world where young animals play at catching prey animals and having mock battles. But even in our world, a child's play is practise for being an adult.

When a child is having emotional problems, it is helpful for their therapist to watch how they play house. Only in play can they toss the brother down the stairs without having to cope with disasterous results. Play allows them to experiment with possible consequences and how to deal with them. Play allows a child to safely do things they could never do in real life and see what the results of their actions might be.

The true object of all human life is play. There is more to life than just doing what you were told to all day long. There's no fun in doing tasks like that. And we were meant to have fun, just as we were meant to learn and grow. Actually the two are the same. I see fun as what happens when you discover you can do something you didn't know you could do. In play you can do anything; without waiting for someone else to tell you what you can and can't do. Play is how we learn and grow. It is how we try on different beleifs and see whether they fit who we are. Heaven is a playground.