When was the last time you just played? Played for fun — truly unrestrained by life’s many stressors?
That question loomed large at the Rye Free Reading Room recently when adults and children gathered to watch a screening of “Playing for Keeps,” a 2020 documentary that promotes the importance of downtime and play in people of all ages — especially adults.
“The science of play is a public health issue for kids, adults, and seniors,” Dr. Andy Bell, program director for Westchester County’s Department of Community Mental Health, told The Record before the event.
Play is so vital for our health that the event was presented by a barrage of important community groups — Rye ACT, pRYEde, the Rye Youth Council, the Rye Free Reading Room, the Rye YMCA, Rye Recreation, and IRL Rye.
“Play promotes connection, community and interaction and combats overexposure from screens,” Janet Donat, outreach specialist at the Westchester Library System, said before the event. She and Bell gave the opening remarks and led a post-screening discussion.
The hour-long film did not dwell on studies and statistics, but rather showed people in both their work and play states. Among them were a nurse practitioner leading a hula hoop dance class and a federal reserve banker paddleboarding in the waters around Manhattan, both illustrating the power of play.
When the film became more analytical, it showed how play can affect the human condition. A prison study, for example, found that a key differentiator between homicidal and non-homicidal inmates was a lack of playtime when they were children.
“There is a neural circuit for play that sits alongside primitive circuits for rage and fear,” Bell said. “To deny that is to deny a basic human instinct.”
Following the screening, audience members discussed work-life balance and the difficulty of avoiding screen time and dopamine crashes. By that point, the film’s message had clearly been delivered — a few people felt compelled to pick up and toss around beach balls that were strewn around the room.
One woman said she has been on a lifelong journey to embrace silliness but felt that those around her are constantly rolling their eyes. Bell sympathized and restated the film’s key message: playfulness is not a needless indulgence, it’s an important part of self-care.
“You’re preaching to the choir,” she said.
