Never Stop Playing

Over the past 5 1/2 years, I have listened to over 865 hours of podcasts. They help me to learn, grow and be inspired.

Last week I was listening to The Art of Charm podcast where author Charlie Hoehn talked about how a stressful project led him to anxiety that took over his life and nothing helped him to improve.

Until he discovered play.

As kids, we are both encouraged and expected to play, but when we grow up, play is looked upon as a luxury for those who aren’t “busy.” We hear common responses like “must be nice,” or “I wish I could do that.”

And we can. We all can do that. It’s vital to our health that we make time to play.

I have a life filled with work, family, home and hobbies. I like to learn and try to squeeze learning and growth into every tiny crevice of my life.

But I finally decided that I needed to stop. Yesterday, I chose to play.

My daughter and I took the day off to hang out together with no goal or objective. We just wanted to spend the day enjoying each other’s company.

We watched The Worst Witch and talked about how fun it would be to fly or to be invisible. We sang in the car…very, very loudly. We pulled over whenever we saw something interesting. We told jokes. We ate ice cream. We didn’t take any pictures and we didn’t post anything on Facebook. We were 100% present with each other and playing.

Play looks different for everyone. It may be basketball or reading. It could be video games or performing at an open mic night. Play is anything that you do simply for the sake of enjoyment.

Your best ideas never happen while sitting at your desk trying to come up with an incredible idea. They happen when your brain gets a break. That’s because your brain needs rest in order to rewire itself. It’s during these rest periods that your brain is able to connect disparate ideas to create new connections and new ideas.

Play isn’t a luxury or a “might be nice.” It’s vital to a healthy brain and body.

It’s not always possible to add play to each day, but you should find some time in your week to do something just because you enjoy it.

Have a water gun fight.

Go for a bike ride.

Draw.

Write.

Bake.

Play video games.

Hit a ball against the garage.

Go outside and drop Mentos into a bottle of Coke.

Take a spontaneous road trip.

Lay in the grass and look at the clouds.

Paint rocks.

Swing on a swing.

Pull out a board game.

Do something fun.

Play.

Photo by London Scout on Unsplash