The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Marksissons and is narrated by Brock Armstrong.

The Definitive Guide to Play.

I've mentioned the primal concept of play quite a bit recently, and I figured I should clarify

what I mean with a comprehensive post. But Mark, a definitive guide to something that's

essentially formless, spontaneous, and boundless? Surely you jest! Before you scoff, consider

the current status of play in our society. Think about where play

as a concept has been relegated to the important but ultimately expendable category. Roving

bands of children out for kicks and innocent thrills who answer only to the streetlights are

absent, replaced by Purel-soaked kids being

bust to their next play date. Working men and women accumulate enough stress for a dozen grocks

in the course of a week, putting in overtime and working weekends, only to collapse on the

couch in front of the TV once they get home. If they're lucky, they'll get a few hours a week on the treadmill or out in the yard with the kids or the dog.

When they finally manage to get it, people enjoy play.

It's fun after all, but whether it's our Puritan past summoning hidden guilt at the thought of pleasure for pleasure's sake, or the

consumerist mentality pushing us to work, work, work, there's always real life calling and

interrupting the fun. Pure play has become more of a luxury nowadays, or even worse, is considered

to be kids' stuff. But when your kids can't even play without checking their

schedules first, you know there's a serious problem. We didn't always have this problem. In fact,

for tens of thousands of years, play was a vital component of communal living and social cohesion

among our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Once the kill had been made or the day's supply of roots, shoots, nuts, and leaves had been

gathered, Grock played. No commutes, no shopping at the grocery store for a bouquet of roses

...