We've all witnessed or done it ourselves, tell a child to "go out and play." This is often to get them out of your hair, have a moment to pee, be able to hear the person on the other end of the phone. I could go on but you get the picture. We are constantly telling the younger generation to play more, get dirty, and to be a kid but we would never think to give ourselves that guidance.
For the first time in a VERY long time, so long I can't even remember the last occurrence, I played. I sat down at my desk, set my laptop aside and played with colors. I have been learning acrylic painting, it's something I have always had in the back of my mind to try to learn how to paint. I spent over an hour learning color mixing, playing with my color palette on a blank canvas. I walked out to my husband and said, "Hey babe, I was just playing around with colors it was a lot of fun!" Hold the phone. PLAYED WITH COLORS? You would have thought it was an eight-year old coming out of a craft class.
I reflected some more and made it aware that as adults we rarely, if ever, use the word play. Yeah sure we say we're going to a fun kickboxing class, meeting a friend for wine hour, but we justify those are needs or earned time from our busy schedules. We should shake things up and start thinking of our days, hours, minutes of opportunities as choices to play. What activities would we choose instead? would priorities that are less serving to us change? Could we unlock our inner child and bring more vibrancy to our daily lives simply for the sake of 'playing'?
Only hours later do I feel a stronger sense of motivation and desire to do it, again and again, more frequently. This is a very different feeling than the prior weeks when I would tell myself I should practice painting.
If we use the word play, will we do ourselves the biggest favor to live more like our children? Those phone calls, social media platforms, laundry piles can wait. Play first, adult after. The adult things will still be there, but maybe they will be less boring if we are on our playful high while doing our daily responsibilities.
Do me a favor and try to bring this word into your internal talks, try to do some activities where it stems from play, and reflect on your mental and emotional state following those moments and days after. I'd love to hear what your experience is like, feel free to comment below!