Play Break!

 I've really enjoyed this past week of blogging, but also feel like I've gone a little overboard in internet usage.  For two weeks, I've been avoiding the stacks of brand new plush and also some new cotton that is begging to be turned into Knees and Paws.  The shop seems to have gone into a hibernation mode.  Being a one woman operation, the cause of this is me.  I'm playing the work avoidance game because I just finished cleaning and rearranging our home and don't feel like making a mess.  Unfortunately, in my line of work, or play, I have to make a little mess for the sake of progress.    So today you are all spared of my philosophical ramblings for a simple quote. Today I'm borrowing one from Stuart Brown, MD in his book Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul.

"Play, it is believed, aids in the process of synaptogenesis through simulation and testing. At play we imagine and experience new situations, create and test new possibilities, and learn and practice new skills and lessons in a safe environment. Because we are just playing, there is no risk in failure and we can push the envelope‒and thereby boost cognitive development without penalty. In this way, Brown and other play researchers hypothesize, play helps “sculpt” the brain."

In case you are wondering,

syn·ap·to·gen·e·sis definition

Pronunciation:  /sə-ˌnap-tə-ˈjen-ə-səs/
Function: n
pl -e·ses ; Pronunciation:  /-ˌsēz/
:  the formation of nerve synapses

There are ten more days until Creativity Boot Camp begins!  So I need all the nerve synapses I can get!