My last 2 days of PLAY, I just totally relaxed and let go of expectations and worries. I went to the beach alone again in the afternoon and got in the water. I began to frolic around and throw rocks into the water from the shore just to hear them ker-plunk. At that moment I realized that I had been defining play from the beginning in a very limited manner. What is play anyway?? If I think of play as only extreme fun, laughing, playing like I see children do of course I am going to be a little disappointed. There is always time and room to let that in, but without forcing it. The rest of the time we can integrate play into our day by asking what does play mean to me? We use the word play for instruments, sports and card games. However, a lot of the time these are some of the most serious activities people engage in. Instruments require a lot of practice which is often tedious, sports commonly turn into competitions that result in losing the purpose behind them and card games have been corrupted by betting. All of these things are wonderful ways to spend time … if you know why you want to do them. If it’s for play and pure enjoyment, set the intention before beginning to approach the activity in a light-hearted manner.
Later, I went with my boyfriend to the beach to play Frisbee. Being an admitted Frisbee failure, I had way more fun than one would think. I realized that when I am good at a sport – which growing up as a semi-jock I have always been good at most of them – makes be behave quite seriously. But, since when I throw a Frisbee it goes everywhere except straight I giggled, belly laughed and played around not really caring where the Frisbee went and finding pure delight in watching its course! As the sun was setting and the game came to a close my boyfriend ran over, picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and ran directly into the ocean waves – clothes and all. I was in shock as he threw me down and started splashing me! Then I came to life again and began wrestling him down to prove I could throw him into the water too – not an easy feat but loads of fun as I lost my breath and finally at least got his butt to touch the ground for a second – Victory!
The last day of my play adventure we went to a neighboring hotel where there is a waterfall with beautiful pools beneath it. Here we didn’t find ecstatic play but rather a calm, open-hearted play as we jumped into the pools, kissed while feeling the cool water on our skin and redirected the course of the water gently streaming between pools. It left me feeling refreshed and open to experience life.
So all in all, I feel like setting an overall intention in daily life to play is a great stimulus to seek opportunities that lighten up the way we approach life. Stress and seriousness about everything in life takes away our purpose for being here and impacts everyone around us. If we simply choose to approach daily life in a more light-hearted manner and take each opportunity to play rather than seeing it as an obstruction to productivity we may just be able to slowly cultivate the same curiosity as we see in children about the world around them.
Later, I went with my boyfriend to the beach to play Frisbee. Being an admitted Frisbee failure, I had way more fun than one would think. I realized that when I am good at a sport – which growing up as a semi-jock I have always been good at most of them – makes be behave quite seriously. But, since when I throw a Frisbee it goes everywhere except straight I giggled, belly laughed and played around not really caring where the Frisbee went and finding pure delight in watching its course! As the sun was setting and the game came to a close my boyfriend ran over, picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and ran directly into the ocean waves – clothes and all. I was in shock as he threw me down and started splashing me! Then I came to life again and began wrestling him down to prove I could throw him into the water too – not an easy feat but loads of fun as I lost my breath and finally at least got his butt to touch the ground for a second – Victory!
The last day of my play adventure we went to a neighboring hotel where there is a waterfall with beautiful pools beneath it. Here we didn’t find ecstatic play but rather a calm, open-hearted play as we jumped into the pools, kissed while feeling the cool water on our skin and redirected the course of the water gently streaming between pools. It left me feeling refreshed and open to experience life.
So all in all, I feel like setting an overall intention in daily life to play is a great stimulus to seek opportunities that lighten up the way we approach life. Stress and seriousness about everything in life takes away our purpose for being here and impacts everyone around us. If we simply choose to approach daily life in a more light-hearted manner and take each opportunity to play rather than seeing it as an obstruction to productivity we may just be able to slowly cultivate the same curiosity as we see in children about the world around them.
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