Trying to remember what play looked like when I was a kid. Definitely loved being in the pool or ocean, riding my bike, reading. I wasn't particularly boisterous as a kid and I'm still not.
I don't think play has to be boisterous. Most of my play was very quiet, me all by myself out in the woods or in the pool or in my room. I feel like kids today are much less likely to play by themselves and it's so sad.
I love that you’ve found a way to play!! I think about play so much. I’ll do something that starts off playful and then I’ll often turn it into work. Most of the time being out in nature with my camera is playful. Not always. I signed up for this to see if it will spark some ideas about play: https://grateful.org/reclaim-play/
Oh, Karen, I am right there with you. It feels sometimes like the definition of adulthood should be ‘the ability to ruin all forms of play.’ The pictures you share on your newsletter are certainly playful, but I know assembling them and editing them and getting them out is also lots of work.
I think Brene Brown defined play partly as anything that makes you lose track of time. So reading is like this for me. I bet when you’re out there taking your pictures, you lose track of time sometimes?
I like that definition! I definitely do. Putting together the newsletters, especially the midweek ones with only photos, can definitely be playful. Mostly I need to train myself to be playful, lots of things I do *could* be playful. I always notice how the really good spiritual leaders are playful.
Yes, we had a Buddhist monk come visit campus once and I was really surprised by how much he giggled. People would ask him a question and he would giggle before he answered. It was clear that this was all play for him and it was beautiful and what I aspire to.
Also thinking that the singing you do while you're out there is play. The way you talk about song lyrics popping into your head to help express what you're feeling or seeing. I think just singing for yourself--loud and off-key and whatever--is play. It certainly lifts my spirits.
Thanks, Bill! You should totally start playing your baseball card game again. It’s clear to me that it is so sustaining for my husband. It has the side effect of making him quite the baseball trivia genius, too.
Liquid joy, yes! It's so easy to lose that sense of play and then it can be strange to realize that seeking out opportunities to feel it and do it can be a chore in itself. Adulthood sucks this way. Yet there it was, waiting for you to rediscover it. Water can be magic that way. When I first moved to San Diego, I'd never gone boogie boarding in my life. Then a local newspaper editor assigned me a feature. Apparently some "old women" -- in their fifties and sixties -- met every week and took to the waves with their boards. I did the story and met some new friends. I was a regular for five years and then had an accident on New Year's day when I did a face plant and rearranged some discs in my back. Turned out that, after the surgery, the prescription was a hot pool in one of those belts you described. It literally buoyed me up. I've been cautious about boogie boarding since then but love to get wet -- when I actually get myself together to get out and do it. I'm glad you found this!
That’s sad, VerS. I live about two blocks from a river and I don’t get in it, but I do like even just looking at water. The way it changes every day. It’s constancy combined with variability.
Well-timed piece for me, Robyn! With retirement happening in a few weeks, I am actively hoping to add play to my life, but am not clear what serves as play for me. Brene Brown's definition is easy --I have lots of activities that I lose myself in (woodworking, designing and building gardens, sitting in a swing, petting cats, revealing beauty of any sort...), and I hope to do more of them (but not so much that they feel like work!) Even so, I also want to add something more exhilarating, something that evokes joy and not serenity alone. Water seems like a good starting point. Canoeing, swimming. Hmm. White water rafting! Anyway, this is helpful to get me thinking.
Those are good retirement thoughts to be having. I think kayaking and canoeing would be awesome, even though that ship has probably sailed for me. Whitewater rafting! Woo! Certainly exhilirating.
I think it is hard as adults not to turn play into work. Maybe perfectionism is part of that? The need to do things right or perfectly. I don’t know. I struggle with that in my knitting, though I’m working on it. My sweater can look just okay and that’s all right.
With woodworking, I find that "just okay" at the moment it's finished (when the unrealized perfect vision is still clear in my mind) becomes something I love over time. And often it's the flaws that I am particularly fond of.
That’s encouraging to know. It is the soul-crushing thing about writing. The unwritten novel in my head is perfect, but the novel I actually write is so flawed. But no one can read the novel in my head, so.
“the gravity of adulthood” indeed! Love this piece, Robyn. Now I’m thinking about how, or if, I still play. And how I want to play! And swimming. 💜
Thanks, Linda. Adulthood is a heavy thing. I find it so hard to figure out what play looks like for me, so glad I stumbled onto this.
Trying to remember what play looked like when I was a kid. Definitely loved being in the pool or ocean, riding my bike, reading. I wasn't particularly boisterous as a kid and I'm still not.
I don't think play has to be boisterous. Most of my play was very quiet, me all by myself out in the woods or in the pool or in my room. I feel like kids today are much less likely to play by themselves and it's so sad.
Thank you for capturing the joy I feel during aqua aerobics and for reminding me of my childhood "living" in the water. Happy Summer!
Happy Summer and enjoy the parade! Hope the rain holds off.
I love morning water aerobics. Maybe it is the play time with less gravity.
Gravity sucks! And part of what I love about mornings in the pool is seeing so many of my favorite people!
I love that you’ve found a way to play!! I think about play so much. I’ll do something that starts off playful and then I’ll often turn it into work. Most of the time being out in nature with my camera is playful. Not always. I signed up for this to see if it will spark some ideas about play: https://grateful.org/reclaim-play/
Oh, Karen, I am right there with you. It feels sometimes like the definition of adulthood should be ‘the ability to ruin all forms of play.’ The pictures you share on your newsletter are certainly playful, but I know assembling them and editing them and getting them out is also lots of work.
I think Brene Brown defined play partly as anything that makes you lose track of time. So reading is like this for me. I bet when you’re out there taking your pictures, you lose track of time sometimes?
Thanks for the link! Looks super interesting.
I like that definition! I definitely do. Putting together the newsletters, especially the midweek ones with only photos, can definitely be playful. Mostly I need to train myself to be playful, lots of things I do *could* be playful. I always notice how the really good spiritual leaders are playful.
Yes, we had a Buddhist monk come visit campus once and I was really surprised by how much he giggled. People would ask him a question and he would giggle before he answered. It was clear that this was all play for him and it was beautiful and what I aspire to.
Also thinking that the singing you do while you're out there is play. The way you talk about song lyrics popping into your head to help express what you're feeling or seeing. I think just singing for yourself--loud and off-key and whatever--is play. It certainly lifts my spirits.
This is brilliant, and being in my 50s myself, I felt it. Funny thing is, I have a baseball game with cards, and I stopped playing it.
Thanks, Bill! You should totally start playing your baseball card game again. It’s clear to me that it is so sustaining for my husband. It has the side effect of making him quite the baseball trivia genius, too.
Liquid joy, yes! It's so easy to lose that sense of play and then it can be strange to realize that seeking out opportunities to feel it and do it can be a chore in itself. Adulthood sucks this way. Yet there it was, waiting for you to rediscover it. Water can be magic that way. When I first moved to San Diego, I'd never gone boogie boarding in my life. Then a local newspaper editor assigned me a feature. Apparently some "old women" -- in their fifties and sixties -- met every week and took to the waves with their boards. I did the story and met some new friends. I was a regular for five years and then had an accident on New Year's day when I did a face plant and rearranged some discs in my back. Turned out that, after the surgery, the prescription was a hot pool in one of those belts you described. It literally buoyed me up. I've been cautious about boogie boarding since then but love to get wet -- when I actually get myself together to get out and do it. I'm glad you found this!
Oh, no! Face plant and disc rearrangement sounds painful. Glad you found your way back to the water. There is definitely something magical about it.
I miss the water so much, but I'm too far away from any pools or lakes.
That’s sad, VerS. I live about two blocks from a river and I don’t get in it, but I do like even just looking at water. The way it changes every day. It’s constancy combined with variability.
Well-timed piece for me, Robyn! With retirement happening in a few weeks, I am actively hoping to add play to my life, but am not clear what serves as play for me. Brene Brown's definition is easy --I have lots of activities that I lose myself in (woodworking, designing and building gardens, sitting in a swing, petting cats, revealing beauty of any sort...), and I hope to do more of them (but not so much that they feel like work!) Even so, I also want to add something more exhilarating, something that evokes joy and not serenity alone. Water seems like a good starting point. Canoeing, swimming. Hmm. White water rafting! Anyway, this is helpful to get me thinking.
Those are good retirement thoughts to be having. I think kayaking and canoeing would be awesome, even though that ship has probably sailed for me. Whitewater rafting! Woo! Certainly exhilirating.
I think it is hard as adults not to turn play into work. Maybe perfectionism is part of that? The need to do things right or perfectly. I don’t know. I struggle with that in my knitting, though I’m working on it. My sweater can look just okay and that’s all right.
With woodworking, I find that "just okay" at the moment it's finished (when the unrealized perfect vision is still clear in my mind) becomes something I love over time. And often it's the flaws that I am particularly fond of.
That’s encouraging to know. It is the soul-crushing thing about writing. The unwritten novel in my head is perfect, but the novel I actually write is so flawed. But no one can read the novel in my head, so.