Play, trivial as it sounds, is something to be taken seriously. As many of us adopt the responsibilities of adulthood, we discard the delights of childhood. The two, however, aren't mutually exclusive, activating both sides of the brain, and by weaving play back into our lives we not only relieve tension and improve our sense of happiness but also the way we work.
It is something Catriona Pollard learnt first-hand five years ago while on the brink of burn out.
![Catriona Pollard at play. Her weapon of choice? Basketry.](/web/20161103055204im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/f/s/j/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsfsjc.png/1478049760402.jpg)
"I realised that I wasn't enjoying work – I was miserable, I was not dealing with stress and deadlines felt like they were piling up," says Pollard, who runs a public relations agency.
What could have ended in a break down instead ended up in play.
Pollard did "a lot of reflection" and realised she couldn't change the everyday chaos.
"I wondered how I could find a sense of play and unstructured joy," she recalls. "I felt I needed to do some activity to use the other side of my brain. Running a business you have to have so much structure and, as adults, when we play, it seems to be goal-oriented and team-structured."
After trying her hand at different arts and crafts, she fell in love with basketry; the traditionally female art form of container-making.
Whenever she walked anywhere, she would collect vines and twigs and leaves and, sitting on the floor at home, play.
"It gave me this sense of uncomplicated joy."
It also allowed the 46-year-old to slow down and explore with her full attention, undistracted.
"It's given me space away from technology," Pollard says. "When you gift yourself that space, it's amazing what happens."
What happens can be manifold – a flowering of ourselves in all directions of our lives.
It gave me this sense of uncomplicated joy.
Catriona Pollard
Playing games stimulates growth of the grey matter in our brains, which is related to memory, decision-making, speech, emotions and self-control.
A sense of play, in the instance of this research at work, can also improve our performance at work by triggering positive communication and problem-solving skills.
Besides, it's good for our hearts. Not that we should require reason for play beyond the fact that it feels good. And the fact that if we don't play, we become bores.
"What you begin to see when there's major play deprivation in an otherwise competent adult is that they're not much fun to be around," says Dr Stuart Brown of the National Institute of Play. "You begin to see that the perseverance and joy in work is lessened and that life is much more laborious."
But there are shifts in the ways we perceive the rest of our lives from adding a little lightness and absorption in a task where we can explore and create without pressure or expectation.
"It's done a couple of really interesting things," says Pollard, who has also written a book and held her first exhibition last year. "By getting my left and right brain working cohesively, I've been able to problem-solve in a way I never did or could before. It's allowed me to think outside the square."
It doesn't change long hours or stop the chaos. But, little breaks become an "oasis", help us to recharge and, with play, can inject some necessary perspective.
"That doesn't mean at times I'm not [stressed], but it has enabled me to appreciate where I am in that moment and that it's just a moment."
A moment experienced differently, which can change everything.
We don't need to run away for six months or necessarily make any major changes to experience life differently, the literature says and Pollard, from experience, believes.
"It's really, really helped me appreciate and show, every day, that link between the world around me and me – it's enabled me to see the beauty around me."