Bruce Tulio: Passion for Play

As we get older it’s easy to buy into the belief that you have to act like a responsible adult. More work, less play. Responsibility. Obligations. The 101 things on our to-do lists. Falling into bed exhausted at the end of the day. Too tired to go out and kick it the way you used to when you were young.

Bruce Tulio—scuba diver, pilot, driver, sailor—would be the first person to tell you if you’re not passionate about play, then you’re wasting your time. And he’d be right.

The Benefits of Play

You hear a lot about the benefits of play for kids. It’s how they learn. How they develop social skills. Learn to share. Having plenty of time to play and be themselves helps prevent depression and lets them discover themselves as individuals.

You hear considerably less about the benefits of play for adults. Is it because adults don’t play? Or because we worry so much about acting like adults that we just don’t think about it?

Bruce Tulio would tell you it’s probably the latter, and he’d be right.

People are Made to Play

People are naturally made to play. It’s instinctive. Play is how we connect to the people around us, form relationships, and cement those relationships. It provides common ground on which those relationships are built.

In other words, play is what brings us together so we don’t feel like social pariahs.

Bruce Tulio’s interests are as much about challenging himself as they are about interacting with others. As children, our friends were the ones who would crash our Hot Wheels in the sandbox. As teenagers, it was bike rides and pickup basketball games. As adults, our friends usually aren’t the ones we share responsibilities with but, rather, the ones who share our hobbies. In Bruce Tulio’s case, the people he dives with, serves in his community, coaches on his little league team, etc.

Social connection has been proven to reduce stress and decrease the chances that you’ll end up suffering from moderate to severe depression during your lifespan. Looks like Bruce Tulio won’t ever have to worry about that.

A Sense of Identity

While Bruce Tulio’s hobbies aren’t everything, they’re definitely huge parts of who he is. Hobbies remind people that they aren’t just parents, spouses or employees. They’re still themselves. They still have an identity outside of what you are to everybody else. Bruce Tulio recognizes this and he lives by it.