HEALTH HABITS 



2743 



HEARNE 



Play is at first preparation for life, and later 

 continues throughout normal life as a pro- 

 gressive preparation. "Play," says Professor 

 Seashore, "fits for the larger life to the extent 

 that the individual retains plasticity and inter- 

 est in growth. So long as one is alive there is 

 ever something to learn. There are visions 

 to be seen, inspirations to be received, ideals 

 to be set aglow, sympathies to be cultivated, 

 emotions to be refined, dreams of achievement 

 to be enjoyed, riddles of life to be solved by 

 the proof of experience." 



Without play little of this would be possible, 

 for enjoyment would cease and the possibilities 

 for adaptation to the more serious things of 

 life would become quite impossible. Many 

 people play without realizing it. Music, art, 

 poetry, achievements of various kinds, any- 

 thing which brings new impressions and associa- 

 tions, may serve as play.. When we stop play- 

 ing we grow stale, and become mentally fixed. 

 Serious achievement then becomes practically 

 impossible. Play is a social instinct, and with- 

 out it common fellowship with others is lost. 

 The most alert minds most enjoy and profit by 

 play. The dull and feeble-minded play little 

 or none. 



The modern methods of education of chil- 

 dren are based largely on the play instinct, and 

 there is no reason why such natural methods 

 should not be utilized throughout all education. 

 As a matter of fact, those who succeed best in 

 this world are those who discover a work which 

 for them is largely play. Any activity which 

 is constantly difficult and* irksome is never 

 rewarded with any great results. We succeed 

 best in those things we like best and which to 

 us are in some degree forms of play. 



The truly great lawyer, doctor, minister, 

 musician, explorer, merchant or investigator, 

 all find play in their business or profession, 

 whether they are conscious of it or not. The 

 only reason *why some people who are not well 

 suited to their daily work, succeed at all is 

 that they discover some form of regular play 

 or avocation outside of their daily occupation. 

 This we usually call a "fad," but. cultivation of 

 fads, while valuable and desirable for most 

 people, would be far less necessary if daily 

 work could be regarded as a stimulating form 

 of play. Many people are to-day to some 

 considerable degree misfits in life, and this 

 largely through failure in choice of a proper 

 vocation. This is the reason why so many fail 

 in business or in health and grow old while still 

 young. 



"We all have our work, our set tasks and 

 duties; but those of us who get the most out 

 of life are they whose work would be their 

 preferred play, quite apart from its pursuit as 

 a means of livelihood." We all need definite 

 forms of recreation quite different from our 

 daily work, but change rather than rest is at 

 the base of real recreation. Very few of those 

 of us who toil at uncongenial tasks and look 

 forward to the day when we may retire and 

 enjoy life will ever realize that anticipated 

 pleasure. The time to enjoy ourselves is here 

 and now, and nothing is more important than 

 the intelligent choice of a life vocation which 

 will afford the fullest opportunities for our 

 individual happiness, for the happiest people 

 are generally the most useful. 



Through exercise and some forms of play 

 many good habits may be formed; correct 

 postures may be acquired; fairness in judgment 

 of others, skill, exactness, courage, enthusiasm, 

 grace, and a host of useful qualities, become an 

 essential part of our characters. The one who 

 has learned the simple principles of health 

 habits is well prepared to play the game of life. 

 See EDUCATION, subtitle Hygiene of Education; 

 Mental Handicaps; LIFE EXTENSION. E.B.H. 



HEARN, hum, LAFCADIO (1850-1904), inter- 

 preter to the Western world of the soul of 

 Japanese life and art. He was born in the 

 Ionian Islands, in Leucadia (pronounced Lej- 

 cadia), the name which he adopted. Orphaned 

 early in life, he was educated for the priest- 

 hood by an aunt; but he was a born rebel 

 and railed against authority and civilization. 

 When nineteen he broke away from the 

 Church, and moved to New Orleans, where he 

 began a journalistic career. From 1887, seeking 

 inspiration, he journeyed through foreign 

 countries until 1890, when he reached Japan, 

 where he found his true sphere of influence. 

 There he became professor of English litera- 

 ture at the Imperial University at Tokyo, mar- 

 ried a Japanese woman and adopted the 

 Buddhist religion. Henceforth he became 

 known as YAKUMO KOIZUMI. It was this close 

 association with Japanese life that enabled him 

 to write those classic interpretations which now 

 enrich literature, among them Japanese Letters 

 of Lafcadio Hearn, Glimpses of Unfamiliar 

 Japan; Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation, 

 and An Interpretation of Literature. 



HEARNE, hum, SAMUEL (1745-1792), a 

 Canadian explorer and trader, for many years 

 an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 whose advance from the shores of Hudson Bay 



