slupi
slupi
slupi believes: a playful salt lake is a healthy salt lake.
slupi’s mission: promote public health in salt lake by 1) infusing play into the ordinary; 2) helping others see town as a playground; and 3) being a resource for accessible play.
slupi’s long-term vision: a salt lake in which the adults are as playful as the kids.
slupi’s head cheerleader: lucas matelich M.Ed., a retired middle school teacher, play enthusiast, and self-proclaimed little boy.
You tell a kid: "Alright, little dude, time to play-act: be a grown-up for one minute...go!"
Within nanoseconds, their eyes light up with exitement– it's showtime. They frantically scan the room, searching for props to bring their adult persona to life. Hair gets combed-over, shirts tucked, shoelaces double-knotted and belts cinched up all tight-like. Style goes from fun to funeral as they try to look as painfully boring as possible. Their smile disappears, lips zipped tight, teeth in hiding. It's business, no fun allowed. "Hey, lemme borrow your phone!" they demand, miming a bluetooth caller while pacing back and forth, acting out an intense "big money" negotiation.
The minute's up, you yell "Time!" Suddenly, they crack, letting out an embarrassingly hilarious, high-pitched cackle. "Again, again!" they squeal.
Look, we’re not here to rag on being a responsible grown-up. We pay bills, mow lawns, and honestly get way too jazzed about the bulk foods section at Winco. But this minute of kid acting like an uptight adult? It's a tragic glimpse into what we've come to accept as "maturity" in our culture.
Just as days need night and darkness needs light, us grown-ups need our connection to the child within. That spontaneous, playful spirit that saw magic in the mundane– the one that turned sticks into wands, and for a glorious minute, turned us into Lindsay Lohan prancing the...well, you get it.
What is play?
This thing we speak of, this elusive, squishy and amorphous thing, is less abour what one does, more about how one does. It’s imaginative, silly, creative, and is not a means to an end.
One doesn’t toss friz to accomplish, one tosses friz to toss friz.
Play involves adventure, presence, novelty, ‘the mindset’, flow state, and an exploration of one’s edges. Once we’re in the playstate? Then social cohesion, stress reduction, exercise, bonding, mental acuity, learning, social attunement and joy tag along for the ride.
Play is growth is presence is joy is survival. And we have evolution to thank for that one. Tribes that played together, stayed together. Millions of years of the fickle fight for existence has hardwired the human genome for this oh-so goofy thing. Animals too.
If we choose to ignore biological reality, it is only our burden to bear. Play is an antidote– not the only one, but a potent one– to the sneaky forces that trick us into taking this one wild and precious life a bit too seriously.
SLUPI believes that playfulness is a skill— a lens— one that us adults can practice, cultivate, and nourish. We believe, in 2024, it’s vitally important.
Which is why we’re here to teach it.
