4/17/2018
The 7 Habits of Highly Playful People | Psychology Today
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Scott G. Eberle Ph.D. Play in Mind
The 7 Habits of Highly Playful People Playful plans for puckish response Posted Oct 24, 2012
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If you’re good-humored, it’s likely you’ll: Reframe. Changing the way you see things can help keep the mood playful. The mischievous modern artist, Marcel Duchamp, had sandwiched images of a number of objects—a coffee grinder that seemed to fit at the center of a machine, a funnel, and some shapes that looked like drums—between two large panes. Here we call the famous work “The Large Glass.” The French title, “The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even,” lured critics to extravagant Freudian interpretations. When the work shattered in transit, Duchamp revealed his impish intent. Was it ruined? Not a bit. He is reputed to have exclaimed, “Now it’s finished!”
The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass). Source: Wikipedia commons
Compete. Finding contests in everyday events can transform trying events. A friend of mine, a former track star and a fervent competitor, dropped his keys as he was getting into a cab; he squatted down to retrieve them and split his pants. A couple rushed forward to steal his seat. He chided them for their rudeness and, in an elaborate gesture of generosity, let them have the car. As he turned back toward the hotel to change I said, “You had no intention of taking that taxi, did you?” “Nah, of course not,” he said, “But that was fun, wasn’t it?” Self-handicap. Sometimes play is about avoiding competition. If you’ve ever watched a large dog romp with a smaller dog or a group of age-mixed kids playing together, you’ve noted one striking thing: in the interest of keeping the fun going, the big will make way for the little. It’s only fair, and play depends upon this kind of generosity.
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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/play-in-mind/201210/the-7-habits-highly-playful-people
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