Photo: Rogelio A. Galaviz C.

“The Rat Pack” came to be known as the team of five well-known entertainers: Frank Sinatra; Dean Martin; Sammy Davis, Jr.; Peter Lawford; and Joey Bishop. Many of today’s young people have no clue of who they were, except perhaps for Sinatra, but to me they represented an era of the mellow early 60’s.
Although I was a child and recall civil rights struggles of those times, I associate The Rat Pack with my beloved maternal uncles. They were medical professionals and successful entrepreneurs who gave me a sense of belonging and security. Each had their work, but also leisure time to appreciate the bonds of family.
I’m musing as I wait for a flight to Dallas where I will present “Learning by Choice and Discovery”, and The Rat Pack remind me that we have forgotten the value of play. Self-care is a popular term, but we’re usually too busy to do it!
My uncles’ lives seemed to have a balance of golf, flying planes, playing cards, family time, and work; and I don’t know if they had less stress or just managed it better, but times seemed easier, at least to my young mind.
Have our stressed-out lives killed the benefits of play? If we examine the Finnish schools, they give “brain breaks” to students every 45 minutes. They don’t seem to have issues with hyperactive and disruptive students. Finns give 5-week modules in a variety of skills and have recently dropped the silos of “subjects”; instead, they have opted for more thematic and interdisciplinary approaches to education.
Becoming a teacher in Finland is considered an honor, as they tend to be in the top 10% of their class, and upon deciding that they wish to teach, must study their subject specialty at least to achieve a master’s degree. The students attend school starting at a later age and are at school only 20 hours, so there is more time given for collaboration and evaluation of each student. They only subscribe to ONE standardized exam at the completion of their formal education; that is, ONCE in their compulsory education. Yet, as a nation, the Finns do quite well relative to international competition.
Becoming a teacher involves perpetuating the ethics and trust of the community to help each student discover-through experiences-where their strengths and preferences lie.
Maybe it is the long-delayed ascent of spring, but play seems correlated with happiness, and we have a lot of unhappy, very overstressed adults and young people. It seems that a pill is prescribed for every malady, but it does not provide a cure. Maybe we should give play a turn. Before we forget how.
This weekend is the first halal lifestyle event in America; it is the I Heart Halal Festival at Navy Pier. If you can, check it out and see the many vendors representing food, fashion, finance, personal care products, and travel. After I indulge in the cuisine there of many cultures and collect coupons for brands I’d like to try, I’m taking time to play for 3 days in Wisconsin before buckling myself into new projects. Recharge, reset, and realize the healing that only a connection to nature and its Creator can give.