There are times when I just watch. Watch my 5 year old giggle. Watch her blow bubbles. Watch her dance around. Watch and dream. Dream of a spirit without pretenses. One of the reasons I use to love to volunteer at Children’s Hospital was to play. Play with play-doh. Play with paint. Play with beads.
You were permitted to play. You could get away from being a wife, a mother, a professional. Life wasn’t work in four walls. The other night I asked my husband, “Is life exciting anymore?” Surprisingly, he said yes.
His answer blanketed me with warmth, but also troubled me. How could he still find the excitement? Didn’t he feel life had become Office Space or Leave it to Beaver in a bottle? The same routine day in and day out. The same laundry, dishes, bath time, commute, etc.
Simply put – where did the butterflies go? The butterflies which brought excitement and energy to life….the last day of school, anticipating vacation, a first date, a child’s birth, a pet’s adoption, a promotion, or other rocks we collect in life. Why is there a point in life where life’s colors suddenly change to shades of grey? Why is it so necessary to become adults and be reminded constantly that life is not always roses?
Well, all I can conclude is we’ve forgotten to experience God’s playground. When my adulthood life comes into full-view and everything appears routine, mundane, and quite frankly “drudge” – I remember God’s playground. A playground of mountains, oceans, good restaurants, and theatre events. When we forget what makes life a Rembrandt, this is a sign we’ve forgotten the importance of play. We’ve removed what fills our soul from taking a dance class, going skiing, playing cards, roller-skating, swimming, riding a horse, baking, going to the movies, spending time with friends, traveling, gardening, etc. When life pushes us – what do we do, but become recluse, serious, and forget the awesomeness, quirkiness, sensation of play. For some reason, we think what made us happy as children is now a joke, stupid, or no longer has relevance. At this point, we’ve bought into what adulthood is selling us. We might as well say we’re living but not living. In the process of giving up play, we don’t just give up who we are, but we exchange adulthood for our soul, our passion, and our giggles. We lose the ability to see beauty, to smile, and to be present. All seem like a big price to pay to be an adult. A bigger price is to have children and to begrudge play time. Not only are you giving up on your happiness, but without play you’re losing those unexpected, magical moments. Those kite-flying, Mary Poppins moments.
In all seriousness, who comes out of the womb saying – all I want to be is a robot, so, why do we become robots? Why do we make excuses, allow those around us to keep us being robots, or not know how to be anything else but a robot? No matter the reason, not living with passion, purpose, and fun can be earth-shattering to our core. Sure, folding clothes, creating spreadsheets, long commutes, visiting loved ones in the hospital don’t constitute as fun, but you can make anything you do into fun if you are creative and don’t eliminate play from your routine. For instance, cooking with my daughter now makes it a game and it’s cute to hear her reaction after words such as “we made a master piece mom.” Sitting in a hospital room, you can do whatever you dreamed of never doing when you constitute a moment of play such as learning to knit or drawing a cartoon. Honestly, the secret and gift of children is they always find the time and need to play. At the hospital, it was common to see children with buckets in the playroom because no matter what treatment was pulsing in their veins – they just wanted to play. Mugsy, my 70 year old dog in dog years, comes from the same mold since you would never know his age on a hike. He is someone to admire. On a hike, he’s suddenly a puppy with his tongue out, his tail wagging, and his curiosity in full gear. He is at the center of a favorite moment of time. During one of our walks, the sky suddenly broke into tears and instead of running we danced in the rain. Instead of displeasure, we were experiencing pure, uninhibited joy. It was a God-given moment of play.
So if play is so important to our well-being and butterflies are so important to our happiness – why is it so easy for us to walk away? Most likely, what we consider as butterflies and play needs to evolve. As a child, we get excited about what is new. Reliving the newness with my daughter – you get excited about seeing the ocean, eating chocolate for the first time, or pretending you’re playing house. When you get older, there is not a lot of newness. Many relationships go through a breaking point when the newness wears off. What you have to begin to get excited about is perhaps not the “newness” aspect as much as the “growth” and “play” aspect. I love the quote which says live life like you’re going to die tomorrow, but continue to learn, grow, and play like you’re going to live forever. This statement is profound because life is all about finding ways over the drudge. The mundane won’t ever change, but how you manage the drudge can change. If you think you’re the only unhappy soul – you’re sadly mistaken. Every one has moments of boredom, frustration, etc. The key is when you’re having a drudge moment, it is a sign from the universe telling you to play. You may not be able to change your circumstance, but you can change your routine, your self-talk, your support team, your goals, your self-worth, or your overall perspective. You can change what you consider to be important. You can remember you are only here a second in God years, so, you should try to make the most of life at any age. I still admire the woman at the nursing home who ran 5 k races. Her saying was God gave you this life to live, so, live it. Live it by adding years to your life through play. If you don’t believe me that incorporating play can rock your world, then my suggestion is to try it. If you don’t know how to try it, then start by joining a league or group – they have leagues and groups for everything these days including adult kick ball leagues to scrap book groups. If you don’t want to try a league, do something you always wanted to do as a child such as roll play-doh in the house or learn how to fly a kite. At this point, if you’ve already given up your butterflies, giggles, and excitement – then what else do you have to lose?
