You are here"The Lost Art of Play" by Mark Sisson
"The Lost Art of Play" by Mark Sisson
Mark Sisson's talk on the importance of play
Recently, a who's who list of Paleo lifestyle speakers gathered at the Ancestral Health Symposium on August 5th and 6th to give a series of talks on topics ranging from exercise to diet to science. I've started to watch a number of these talks (one of my current favorites is Mat Lalonde's talk), which can be found on Vimeo, but thought I'd post this one by Mark Sisson, since his message is a good one, and one that's often overlooked.
There are a series of slides that accompany his talk, which can be found here:
www.slideshare.net/ancestralhealth/ahs-slidesmark-sisson
And yes, it's 48 minutes long.
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What a great video. We live in a hot bed of largely non goal oriented playfulness in the Bay from Burning Man, to flash mobs, to the Ecstatic Dance community www.movingcenterschool.com/ still, even here, play is a pretty rare element. Yet play that springs from deep within is infectious cuts across culture and class and can serve as a wonderful filter. Mark did not mention this in his great lecture but I think almost everyone has had the experience of attracting a great friend, lover or business contact because the other recognized the spark that comes from playing creatively. People deeply want to play (which is why huge crowds gather to watch street performers on open air malls) but society, structure and the 9-5 are largely aligned against silly "pointless" activity. And that is where the filter comes in. A substantial percentage of those observing playfulness in the day to day will frown, chastise, or seek to correct when the behavior when they witness it. The downtown Berkeley BART station is a perfect laboratory to see this phenomenon. When I am at my best, and just happen to be absorbed in genuinely goofy moment, I take note of the corrective feedback and ask, "do I really need this ______ in my life." Usually the answer is no.