The Power of Play
What does play mean to you?
What is the power / value of play?
What did play look like for you when you were a kid?
How do you make time for play in your adult life?
What's your favorite form of play in your adult life?
What's holding you back from playing more?
What's something you do, or used to do, that gives you a sense of uninhibited
pleasure, where you lose track of time, and want to do the thing again and again?
How have you, or might you, make your work feel more like play?
What would a more playful society look and feel like?
What's something you can do to make the week ahead more playful?
A Summary of our Discussion:
For some, reminiscing on the joys of playing as a child comes naturally to us. For others, it is deeply tied to other memories of trauma. This polarization of joyful and sorrowful memories makes it sometimes difficult to want to work on deprogramming our minds from a typically unplayful adult lifestyle. But how did we get to such a point where play is so difficult to naturally experience?
Play might have meant being outside, reading or learning something fun, being a mermaid, building forts out of pillows and blankets, or play-pretending to live out adult situations at age 8. Play comes in many different forms and shows up in unique ways to each of us. Play is “being a human” or “feeling alive” for most. As kids, we were doing just that - being a kid and letting our imagination run wild. But somewhere along the line a gradual change lead us to be less and less playful and more serious. We started to make decisions from our mind rather than our heart. Someone told us we shouldn’t behave this way or we shouldn’t be thinking this way or we shouldn’t be doing that.
Over time, we started to lose our imaginations. Some of us much more than others. We might have started to feel like we didn’t belong and so we started to conform to the “norms” and “ways of life” of the culture of people around us. And now in this present moments as adults, what are we left with? For most, we do not think much of play because our minds are filled with stress, responsibilities, and keeping the organized chaos of life at bay. Our “play” might be a para-social relationship with our social media or video games that is one-sided. Sure we enjoy playing with these things and feel safe in doing so but to what end?
How many of us can agree it is really tough to go out and find new friends? Let me tell you, it is hard and it takes a lot of effort! The complexity of another human being’s dynamic compared to our own and trying to make the both of them work is daunting. We not only need to vulnerable with these new people as to show our true, authentic sides but how willing are we to show that to ourselves? How we played as a child is probably the most authentic version of ourselves we can be.
So then how can we as adults find a way to tap into the power of playing we loved so much as a kid? Maybe that is through working out inner child wounds to unlock more fond memories of play. Or maybe that is simply recalling things you enjoyed doing and doing those more often, like going on nature walks. Or better yet find new ways to implement play if you are feeling adventurous. Whatever you do, do it with an inviting heart. Be vulnerable. Create a space for yourself to feel safe and free to be the authentic kid you once were. And if you are looking for others to be more playful with you, trust that they will come. Nothing is more respectful than an honest person who is being who they want to be and doing the things they want to do.
Thank you to my group of Dawn, Kelsey, Kris, Joanna, Traca, and Ray for a wonderful discussion.
“Play is always there if you are looking for it. - Kris
