Play
What would it feel like to have more play in your life? This is a question I have been sitting in for myself and in my client conversations since the new year.
I have learned that play is not a thing. It is a feeling. Play is not dependent on having the time or capacity for "recreational activities". You don't need a pickle ball racquet or a bike for play, although those activities can certainly be playful. Play is accessible at almost any moment doing almost any activity with almost any other being (and certainly also when you are alone). Play feels like being open to any outcome. It feels like building something without regard for what it becomes, whether that's building a sand castle that will inevitably disintegrate or opening to the spark of a friendship with someone you may never see again. Play feels like imagining a beautiful future, a career where your heart is bursting with joy, a relationship where you safely walk toward your shame only to discovery a magical castle filled with delights.
Play is certainly not easy. When all day long you are confronted by threats to your safety: war, disease, layoffs, disaster. But in the midst of all this, there are children still creating carnivals out of couch cushions. So can you. In fact, I'd say that it's essential. That in spite of the pain and suffering in the world, we must be creating joy and passion and new possibilities for our futures. This has always been part of what it means to be alive. To be human. That despite everything, play is available to us right now.
Go deeper: Read Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown.
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