Did you know that in the Innovation District of Boston (just outside of the Seaport District) there was an adult playground of illuminating swings that were up during the latter half of this summer? “The Lawn on D is a first-of-its-kind experimental event space that brings cutting-edge programming and art displays to the Innovation District in Boston,” per the Lawn on D’s twitter page.
In a September 2014 article of Boston Magazine, it states: “Developers of Lawn on D, the new outdoor venue in South Boston that runs alongside the Convention and Exhibition Center, are lighting up an outdoor art installation created by a local architectural firm……called ‘Swing Time,’ the 20 moon-shaped seats, outfitted with an internal LED lighting system, will glow in the night and allow people visiting the site of the grownup playground to interact with them physically. When a person sits on the rings, based on their movements the colors of the circular seats will change.”
“Who has time for that?” we might think. We live in Boston, the ever-busy, over-achieving city – who has time to play on a playground? This is especially difficult for us as we have a long list of adult responsibilities awaiting us on a daily basis. Well, as a therapist in a very urban area, I think that play is integral to the sustainability of anything city-dwellers set out to achieve. As humans, we can only work for so long before we need to rest, and part of rest is play. Play brings out the uninhibited child-like selves that we all possess, and we can then use that rejuvenated adult self to both live and work more thoroughly and effectively.
And besides, it’s just plain fun! Life doesn’t always have to be productive….
