The Joy of Play

by James Barry
in Blogs · James Barry · Lifestyle
— 17 Jun, 2013

All work and no play make James a dull boy. At least that’s what I came to realize a few months ago when I had a temporary lapse in judgment and broke my media fast by watching two film trailers.

Spurred by a voicemail my brother left telling me that I had to see the new trailers for the Superman and Star Trek movies, I caved. My brother knows I’m on a media fast, but the familiarity in his tone of voice reminded me of the countless times we’ve connected over films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond and Back to the Future. These films shaped our childhood. They were the films we would see in the cinemas as a family.

Remember when seeing a movie was an event? Before VHS, DVD and the Internet, going to see a movie was an outing. As a family, we brown bagged some homemade popcorn, stopped at my father’s grocery store to pick out one candy of our choosing (I liked Lemonheads) and my mom would hide it all in her purse. I still get a big smile thinking about those days as a family. Little did I know how special and unique that time was with my family.

So, I broke my media fast and watched the trailers. A part of my shadow I call “The Weasel” came out trying to reason that watching a trailer was not the same as watching a movie or if I watched it really late at night when no one was around, I could just have it be my “dirty little secret”. That reasoning didn’t last long once I shared my process with my wife. And now I’m coming clean with you.

I learned something profound about myself through the process.

Movies represent childhood for me. They remind me of the joy of being a kid. Playing football in the street with friends, baseball in the park, capture the flag. I lived in a glorious neighborhood filled with a community of families with kids all at a similar age. Lots of play with few responsibilities and worries. The exact opposite of how my life has become.

As I’ve gotten older, work seems to dominate my time. Exercising as a goal has replaced carefree play and community is all but lost in my life in Los Angeles. With no play in my life, escape (or decompression) became even more necessary and media became my vice.

Since my realization, I’ve been incorporating more and more play into my everyday. I purchased a baseball glove and have been throwing a ball with friends as often as possible, sometimes substituting a football or Frisbee for the mitt and glove. I’m going for bike rides and walks. All the play brings me closer to friends and reconnects me to that smile I had when I was a young boy. The necessity and pull to watch movies has all but disappeared.