Play-Fulness

Life can be too serious sometimes, and we all know it. But how we respond to the way life feels, can be the difference between being in our power or not. We are taught as children to play. Then we go to school, and we are taught to listen, pay attention and stop daydreaming. Then we become adults, and we are taught to take responsibility and make things happen for ourselves through a lot of hard work. This may seem like a natural progression, but we may actually have things backwards and upside down.

Have you ever heard (and I’m paraphrasing), that unless we become like children, we will never see the kingdom of God? I think of this verse often to try to better understand what it means, as a way to live our lives. Yes, there are all kinds of characteristics wrapped up in being a child – like curiosity, belief and faith, wonder and awe in what is, playfulness, and enjoyment. These are a few that come to mind. It seems like life can often feel heavy or too serious as we lose these traits with adulthood.

But who says we have to lose them? What if we could wake up each morning to feel inspired and grateful that we have another breath on this planet, even though we’re not sure how things will turn out today. What if we can cultivate awe and inspiration, curiosity and interest and bring this way of being to every person we interact with? Maybe we can even cultivate this way of being within ourselves FOR ourselves.

As an adult, when you think of play, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of hobbies you love to participate in, or being with friends, or your kids. But what if playing and play-fulness can actually be experienced in your way of being? You don’t have to play a sport or go out with friends to experience playfulness, You can actually just “touch things lightly” in your attitude, and be in the spirit of play-ful-ness. It’s not that we don’t take things seriously, but it is that we know who we truly are (wonderfully and majestically created by the Creator), and we also fully know that we are cared for in every way (no matter what is showing up for us in our ordinary reality). And in this knowing, we are able to be play-ful. We can actually enjoy this life we were given each and every day.

If FEELING is the secret to living the life we dream of, then I think that play-fulness is a good trait to express as we manifest our desires. Thomas Troward says,

“we must lean firmly on the central point of our own being and not on anything else. Our mistake is in taking our surroundings too much “au grand serieux.” We should touch things more lightly. As soon as we feel that their weight impedes our free handling of them they are mastering us, and not we them.“