Transforming How You Play:
in Your Friendships, Relationships and Personal Time.
Play invites levity, creativity, and childlike freedom.
When children feel safe, they explore. They imagine. They play.
That same sense of trust allows us—at any age—to loosen our grip, step outside survival mode, and rediscover joy.
In a world that often reduces “play” to escape, excess, or distraction, we reclaim it as something deeper. Play can be a quiet form of resistance—a way of choosing joy, connection, and life-giving presence. We call this Defiant Joy.
Play reconnects us to ourselves, helping us remember who we are.
Play connects us deeply to one another.
It restores energy, refreshes perspective, bends our sense of time, and reminds us who we are beneath pressure and performance.
Play shows us not just what life is—but also what it could be.
Our Goal is to infuse play more into every person and in our everyday lives—because it's vital.
1
There are at least 8 different umbrella "play personalities" that Dr. Stuart Brown of the National Institute for Play discovered. t's good to try and define, feel, practice, and explore the ways we best love to play by ourselves and with others. We are wired to enjoy and take care of this world.
2
As children, and as we grew, how we played was highly influenced and reinforced by our environment. For some, tragically, play wasn't very welcome. Going deep into the stories and memories of how we loved to play and how we are activating or craving those play-states give us permission to move towards playfulness.
3
Actually Play! We have the opportunity to Play wherever we are and find ways to carve out time for our play preferences. Play can apply to all areas of deep-healing, missional, and relational life. Play is a glue that helps connect and bond humans like nothing else can.
4
Some Play is individual. A lot of Play is communal. It's important to elevate play within existing networks as well as naming, mapping, and creating new Play groups and networks based on similar play personalities. Prioritizing Play evokes vitality and resilience into any region or system, transforming culture in surprising and mesmerizing ways.
