ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a bizarre account of how the US National Institute for Play was formed as the result of a mass shooting in 1966 and sheds light on the little-known relationship between psychopathology and play. Clinical psychology is in home territory here, with a valuable role charting how play affects our lives and social development. Burston explores how play reflects a kind of altered state, where perceptions of time itself change. This chapter also explores the crucial role play has in childhood and ego development.
Important theorists of play such as Schechner and Gardiner compliment the work of performance expert Robert Callious, and his specific delineations and types of play. The relationship of play with prayer is explored, and why sports and the spirit are so connected. Music and play are also included, along with terms such as ‘being in your body’, in a bid to deepen an understanding of central themes alive in play and sports. The writings of Donald Winnicott and Carl Jung on play and childhood accompany this exploration of a fundamental part the soul and how it helps us become human.
