Every day when I turn the page to make a new entry in my journal, there is a quote at the top and I thought of your latest post.
"If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
I don't know who that guy is and so I will be investigating shortly, but I wanted to share it with you because it reminds me of our youngest boys making movies together in empty parking garages during the pandemic and how it gave them so much. They were finding joy and so much laughter in a dark & depressing time. They were connecting in person. That was so risky, but so important at the time. They were learning so many things, like story-telling, script-writing, filming, editing, and on and on.
When I was a few years into homeschooling & still trying to find our way, I asked our homeschool group for help because all that my kids were doing was screwing around. I was panicked that they weren't "learning" or "working" and I received so much reassurance from our community that what they were doing was important. They (and you) asked me what their screwing around looked like. Ding! A light-bulb lit up in my brain. Doing silly things is important. They needed breaks, they needed to decompress, they needed freedom to express themselves through play, they needed space to stretch their imaginations.
And this is why, when my students come to my sewing classes, I give them the opportunity to get silly. They've been sitting in school all day expected to sit at a sewing machine and focus. Sometimes they need to dive into my giant 20lb box of poly-fil and fall into fluff or pile heaps of scrap fabric into huge piles and hide. Then, all of a sudden, they come up with a creative idea for a project and they're fired-up and super excited to create something.
Thank you for making space to recognize the positive things that kids are doing these days. They may not be drinking out of hoses anymore, hello Stanley cups, but when given the time and permission, they will play and do silly things.
I love to hear about those kids diving into a box of poly-fil! I keep wishing I could get folks with younger kids to come on over and join the conversation, but I think not many have found us yet—or they’re too shy to come out and play here themselves.
We were just at dinner with friends the other night, talking about our friend Paul’s 60th birthday, when he finally achieved his youthful dream of singing in front of a band. And of course he sang The Heats, which brings me back to our boys and all the fun and lifesaving times you write about. Play and creativity are the magic of life, aren’t they? I will die fighting for kids to get more of it. Thank you for joining me on my crusade, my dear friend! 😘
I love this, and I want to add that “play” can take many forms. Your kids ended up in liberal arts, which many people would think is a logical result of “play.” But mine both ended up being scientists (with a strong liberal arts bent). Their play led to movie-making also, but on top of that it led to science fairs and inventions. Play has led people to achieves from Oscar-winning films to Nobel Prizes. The importance of free time to explore and be “bored” can’t be overstressed.
Yes! Scientists and mathematicians would all tell you that having a playful, open mind leads them to discovery, right? And ha—I had to reread your sentence. I thought you were saying that play led your kids to both Oscars and Nobel prizes! Wow! But it could happen 😊
i just asked my first-year college students (some first-gen, many international) to write about what they thought were the most "pressing issues" facing their generation and a surprising number of them wrote about technology, over-stimulation, lack of interpersonal connections (one student said "we don't even ask people for directions anymore!")... so they *see* the damage that's being done, and they are themselves over-programmed (internships! labs! theater club! religious club! EVERYTHING) ... but then I ask how it would be to give up their devices, even for 2 weeks and they blanch. An interesting (sad) conundrum. . .
Every day when I turn the page to make a new entry in my journal, there is a quote at the top and I thought of your latest post.
"If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
I don't know who that guy is and so I will be investigating shortly, but I wanted to share it with you because it reminds me of our youngest boys making movies together in empty parking garages during the pandemic and how it gave them so much. They were finding joy and so much laughter in a dark & depressing time. They were connecting in person. That was so risky, but so important at the time. They were learning so many things, like story-telling, script-writing, filming, editing, and on and on.
When I was a few years into homeschooling & still trying to find our way, I asked our homeschool group for help because all that my kids were doing was screwing around. I was panicked that they weren't "learning" or "working" and I received so much reassurance from our community that what they were doing was important. They (and you) asked me what their screwing around looked like. Ding! A light-bulb lit up in my brain. Doing silly things is important. They needed breaks, they needed to decompress, they needed freedom to express themselves through play, they needed space to stretch their imaginations.
And this is why, when my students come to my sewing classes, I give them the opportunity to get silly. They've been sitting in school all day expected to sit at a sewing machine and focus. Sometimes they need to dive into my giant 20lb box of poly-fil and fall into fluff or pile heaps of scrap fabric into huge piles and hide. Then, all of a sudden, they come up with a creative idea for a project and they're fired-up and super excited to create something.
Thank you for making space to recognize the positive things that kids are doing these days. They may not be drinking out of hoses anymore, hello Stanley cups, but when given the time and permission, they will play and do silly things.
I love to hear about those kids diving into a box of poly-fil! I keep wishing I could get folks with younger kids to come on over and join the conversation, but I think not many have found us yet—or they’re too shy to come out and play here themselves.
We were just at dinner with friends the other night, talking about our friend Paul’s 60th birthday, when he finally achieved his youthful dream of singing in front of a band. And of course he sang The Heats, which brings me back to our boys and all the fun and lifesaving times you write about. Play and creativity are the magic of life, aren’t they? I will die fighting for kids to get more of it. Thank you for joining me on my crusade, my dear friend! 😘
I love this, and I want to add that “play” can take many forms. Your kids ended up in liberal arts, which many people would think is a logical result of “play.” But mine both ended up being scientists (with a strong liberal arts bent). Their play led to movie-making also, but on top of that it led to science fairs and inventions. Play has led people to achieves from Oscar-winning films to Nobel Prizes. The importance of free time to explore and be “bored” can’t be overstressed.
Yes! Scientists and mathematicians would all tell you that having a playful, open mind leads them to discovery, right? And ha—I had to reread your sentence. I thought you were saying that play led your kids to both Oscars and Nobel prizes! Wow! But it could happen 😊
Yeah, I only noticed that ambiguity when I saw the email about your comments. Oops! I need an editor! 😺
😂
Amen! Thanks for including my work in the conversation.
My pleasure! The space and attention you give your kids is awesome.
i just asked my first-year college students (some first-gen, many international) to write about what they thought were the most "pressing issues" facing their generation and a surprising number of them wrote about technology, over-stimulation, lack of interpersonal connections (one student said "we don't even ask people for directions anymore!")... so they *see* the damage that's being done, and they are themselves over-programmed (internships! labs! theater club! religious club! EVERYTHING) ... but then I ask how it would be to give up their devices, even for 2 weeks and they blanch. An interesting (sad) conundrum. . .
How can we expect them to know otherwise when they haven't grown up experiencing otherwise? :(