The Cure for Pain

Look at the Children Playing

“You must become like one of these”

Jesus - pointing at children playing in a puddle, probably…

After being terminated from my big boss job managing 3 branches in the busy sector of Dallas TX - I found Dungeons and Dragons.

I bought the seven dice set, the starter kit that made D&D “cool again” and watched Critical Role. WHAT a great way to start!

You see, at that time, I needed to remember how to have fun again. Most of my life was processing medicare payments for hospice patients. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about our current reimbursement structure for the needs of the dying and their families - but I do feel very confidently that most adults have forgotten how to play.

In fact, shall we define play once again?

Play = the minutes lost to the moment of fun.

We lose track of time when we play. To paraphrase Carl Jung (becoming one of my heroes) “recall what you did as a child to pass the day away in play and in that, lies the magic to your meaning of your work life.”

I spent a TON of time in imagination games as a boy. In fact, one of my very first earnest prayers was “dear God, please turn me into a wizard so I can do magic and kill dragons.”

Now, I did not make a career out of playing tabletop dice and roleplaying games, but I do have a really cool homeschool class I teach once a week where I smuggle in three principles of life through gameplay.

• Articulation

• Imagination

• Collaboration

You see, we need all three to make each work in synergy. Try having imagination without articulation, or articulation without collaboration. Try collaborating without articulation or imagination.

About the end of year 1, I re-entered the workforce, but carried with me the rejuvenation of fun that I didn’t even know I was missing.

So, as I point to little children making up games with cards and dice, HOW THEN should we become like “one of these”?

Simple - we can be saved through childlike play during the worst of times. Because, despite war and pain, children always make time to play.

And so should we.