The Importance of Play in Relationships

Immediate experience is critical to relationship building. Challenge can be a useful tool

to learn about ourselves and others. Play may be one of the most immediate of

all experiences. The best challenges come from spontaneous play. Much of our

learning about social interaction as children was through play. Hey, as adults,

we lose a sense of play in order to maintain an arbitrary identity.

Typically, we don't want to be too vulnerable or to appear

silly very often. A useful guideline might be to challenge

yourself, not others, through play. This supports emotional safety between people