Just Stepping Out to Play
We think that play is just meant for kids but I happen to think that adults who play more live longer and are happier. I am sure that there is some scientific evidence to this but this blog is not about that. This blog is about how to inject more play into our everyday life, to add that bit of sparkle. Yes, it takes some effort but the pay-off is worth it.
Here’s what I do:
1. Find any excuse to celebrate
The fact that we are alive is a good enough reason for me and my family celebrates everything, all the time – Chinese New Year to Christmas. I celebrate Saturdays and Sundays by inviting friends over for a meal and celebrating friendships.
2. “Feel good” drinks
This has become a ritual now and it started because my kids were usually “down” when they had to go back to school after the holidays or a fun weekend... I invented a feel good drink – it’s a virgin cocktail of lift me up flavors like lemon and fresh mint and we dress these drinks up in tall glasses filled with ice and savor them. I still get my 21 year old and 19 year old asking me to make them a “feel good drink.”
3. Special Everyday
I have made it a point not to save things for a special occasion; every meal we eat at home is laid out nicely in nice serving dishes and nice plates. I buy flowers for myself for no reason – just because I feel like it. One year, my best friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I asked him to come to my place with his kids and bring fruit. We laid out a picnic mat and ate fruit in the sky light and then we decided to “howl” at the moon. The kids loved it and still remember it. People remember experiences more than gifts.
4. Dancing in the rain
Whenever it rained and if we were at home, the kids and I would change into “scruffy” clothes and go dancing in the rain and jumping in puddles in the garden. My mum wasn’t pleased with my “wet kids” but I felt that this was a good way to build up their immunity and it started because I wanted to blow my mum’s belief out of the water that if you get wet in the rain- you get sick… not us!
5. Have a “fun” drawer
Actually I have several drawers of fun stuff – paper balls, balloons, bubbles, little ring torches, sparklers, things that make noise and shoot up into the sky…. I collect them and we take them out when other kids or adults come to our home. Whenever people play their eyes light up and they show their hearts.
6. Mark out successes
Even very small triumphs should be marked out and celebrated – like when I baked a “happy “cake with a smiley when my son got a better grade than his previous test. Sometimes – it’s a little gift, a small crystal, a shiny coin or a card or old photograph. I like experiences more than things, so it could be a foot reflexology session or special note slipped under the door.
I think when we play we give to ourselves a gift, the gift of living joyously! And in truth, all we have now is this moment; let’s make the best of it, step out play for a bit.