An unusual occurrence

For the purpose of this article I will restrict the definition of play to board games, card games and computer games. I realise that this is quite restrictive but I think it simplifies my argument.

If you take my definition I certainly don’t play in my daily life. If it’s around Christmas or Easter we might play a board game as a family, but fun though that is, it never occurs to me to do so more often. To me it is self indulgent because it’s not something I grew up associating with adults. I am aware of the saying, ‘You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.’ However, that does not persuade me that playing is anything other than a poor use of my time.

Am I wrong? Almost certainly. The psychological benefits of play are well known. So why do I shy away from it? I think it goes back to the society I lived in as a child and a teenager. There was a clear expectation that once you got to senior school that life would become more serious and less playful. If you look at catalogues and magazines from the time, only children are shown ideas of books board games, while teenagers were expected to simply play records or go out. To add to the problem for me I was an only child so I didn’t have anyone to play with when I was at home. As a result I ended up giving board games little thought because I had no one to play them with.

So, should I start playing again? Yes I should. Will I do so? Almost certainly not. Hard wired as the human brain is, it’s like trying to turn a tanker around! Watch this space and maybe I will get The Traitors board game out again!