Permission to Play
The ever growing to do list… the play crusher.
Filling our proverbial cup to better serve our family and friends is often easier said than done. There’s truth in the cliché though; “you can’t pour from an empty cup” that’s the simple beauty of it. When we’re stretched to our limits with family, work and day to day chores we often forget to give ourselves a little compassion and play certainly comes near the bottom of that list.
Children have got it so right though, those wonderfully complex little beings so ready to play, to learn and grow. They don’t need reminders to play, that’s their only purpose in the early years; to explore their world through playful interactions. They have no need to worry about renewing the car insurance, who’s sock drawer is void of clean socks or whether there’s enough peas in the freezer. That’s not their responsibility, that’s an adult thing. There’s a comfort in being an adult, the rhythm of a family week and holding control over the little things. I’ve done it often (and will probably continue to do it as my family grows) and it feels fine until you stumble into a playful moment and realise how disconnected you’ve been to your childlike playfulness.
Recently I let go in an epic fashion during a class, it ended up in a humongous mud fight and it was beautiful. I had mud everywhere… I mean, everywhere! My husband stopped me at the front door and said “what happened, are you ok?!” I can see why he might have thought there’d been some trouble, it’s not often your grown wife comes home with mud caked in her hair or smeared across her face. But rest assured, I was fine. Actually, more than fine. I was high on all those wonderful mood boosting hormones which come with high energy play, earthing and laughter.
Children are effortlessly blown by the breeze into play, they can craft, play with sticks and stones, blades of grass or planks of wood. They’ll play together with friends or alone by themselves, they’ll have props or tools, they’ll create rules that only they know. There’ll be big movement play and tiny inner world play and no two bouts of play are the same. Wow!
For us adults, we find it a little more tricky…
And that’s the crux of it. Play is still an entity we’re trying to define. For each adult individual it means something slightly different, the parameters shift from person to person and no two people will feel the same benefits when they’ve truly engaged in authentic play. For children it’s instinct.
When we begin having to function more independently in the world, you’d think that it’d be up to us when we work and when we play, so why does play shimmy so far out of our reach? When was the last time you truly played? Has your playtime turned into a hobby? Is that still play? Aah, there are so many questions and so much to discuss. But Kith isn’t the place for it. This is your nudge to not overthink it.
This is your permission slip to play. Whatever that looks like for you. If you need to sit and rest, that’s ok. If you want to craft and create, you go for it. If you want to run through the field or climb a tree, please please feel free to. Get out of your own way and let that inner child be wild.
Try not to overthink it, here are my top tips for playfulness
Laugh
Daydream
Sing, dance, run, jump
Embrace silliness
Remember, mud can be washed off
Try new things
Fail, and fail often
Let go
Be like a child, follow their lead
Tinker, craft and create with no agenda
Embrace your senses
