Jesse Lewis Left a Note for his Brother. It read, “Have a lot of fun”
Jesse left a note for his big brother, folded on his desk. This was a last message left for an older brother from a younger brother. JT found it after Jesse’s murder. He wrote, “Have a Lot of fun.”
This message has proven to be incredibly sage advice, along with Jesse’s other messages including, “Nurturing Healing Love” that has gone around the world and is now being taught in every state in the US!
The Governor of Texas demanded a thorough investigation be completed following the shooting that occurred at the University of Texas in Austin, in 1966 that killed 16 people and wounded 31 others. He was determined to find the cause and how this could be prevented in the future. They looked at the shooter’s history, the history of other violent criminals, and then gave the data to one of the top violence researchers at the time.
One piece of data that rose to the top amongst the most violent of criminals was lack of unstructured play. The information was so vital that the top violence researcher then became one of the top play researchers!
Unstructured play was also identified as as one of the most important components among the best athletes in the world. If you’re thinking, “Well, thank goodness my child plays soccer, football, cheerleading and plays multiple instruments,” you’ve got the wrong idea about play. Unstructured play is play without purpose, where you lose yourself and there are no rules.
Unstructured play is important for healthy brain development, and responsible for developing empathy, imagination, creativity, dexterity, innovation and physical, cognitive and emotional strength.
We need to make time for play, every day.
“Have a Lot of fun.” – Jesse Lewis
