Impara l'arte e mettila da parte

I was reading about flow again the other day in preparation for the upcoming crew season and thought about the Italian phrase above. It translates roughly to: learn the art then put it aside.

Having had relatively few (in other words two) quantifiable flow moments in sport myself - after a lifetime as an athlete - I find this a fascinating subject. Because those two moments stand out still as the most fun I've had while competing, I start out every season hoping that the athletes I coach will find themselves living a few seconds where everything comes together and they lose themselves in what they are doing. Or maybe fully experience what they are doing is a better way of putting it. The problem is that to be in that "zone", you really must be doing and not thinking (or at least not thinking about exactly how to do what you are doing). And, of course how you get to that point is the hard part because it takes a LOT of practice to have learned your art well enough to set it aside.

I do think I've figured out my biggest problem though. Once I get to the point where the skill or sport is ingrained enough for me to be reasonably successful and possibly approach a flow moment my mind wanders. As in: What shall I cook for dinner? Should I wallpaper or paint the hallway? Why on earth would anybody buy those platform shoes I saw in Allure? You get my drift....

Promote world peace: play more!

I am no expert on play, by which I mean I don't study it for a living. But...I took some courses on play as a freshman studying physical education and read some of the scholarly works of one of the great researchers in play, Johan Huizinga (deadly stuff which turned me off of the idea of becoming an academic in the field of human movement). And I have been coaching all of my adult life, which means I do think about sport and play a bit. So, you know, almost an expert.

Anyway, what I most remember about play from school is this: animals have to play...humans included. And it's not just about "all work and no play...." Play, at every stage of life, teaches animals all kinds of important things they need to know about being wolves or elephants or humans; it is a key element of appropriate physical and mental developmental. One of the most important aspects of play is that it teaches young wolves, elephants AND humans how to be successful members of their respective societies. Some researchers have found, in fact, that many people who commit murder apparently had no experience with constructive play as children. It's likely they missed some important lesson about hierarchy, submission and the consequences of acting on violent urges.

So, it makes me wonder: Are we spending enough time playing? Would the world be a better place if we played more often? Or better yet, set aside our differences and played with groups we don't normally interact with like these two did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHj82otCi7U&NR=1 ?