The Playful Life

Photography these days is much different than when I was a kid.  There is so much more you can do After you take a picture.  I remember then how important it was to frame the shot with your camera; what is now called “in camera” editing.

We do this; everyone of us; all the time. We frame our experiences, our thoughts, with the “camera” of our mind.  We call it a “frame of mind”, or perspective.  We carry a number of these frames with us constantly.

This is very cool.  This is how our brain works.  Without all this “short hand” we wouldn’t be able to process the awesome amount of data that our senses absorb.  We need to put things in boxes, but just like those boxes that have been in your garage for . . aeons, that’s where they stay.

I don’t think I need to elaborate here on how our frame of mind or perspective can trip us up or hinder us at times.  I imagine that each of you can recall an experience where you needed a fresh way of looking at something in order to move forwards.

Psychologists call this change in a person’s perspective or frame of mind, reframing.  In fact a therapist will often coach someone in this process to help them deal with a challenge.  Those of you have been paying attention can probably guess where I’m going next.

In Cale David Magnuson’s paper:  The Playful Advantage:  How Playfulness Enhances Coping with Stress, he shows that one advantage playful people have is that they’re better at reframing things. They often handle a challenge by redefining it.  What a useful tool to have in your kit.

What is really cool is that this idea of reframing isn’t just a reactive tool. It isn’t just for getting out he way when life throws you a curve ball.  It can be used in a proactive way to create something never seen before.  In fact a large number inventions and innovations throughout history have come about by looking at something old . . in a new way.

Play with those thoughts for awhile.  😃