Work as Play

“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.”
-George Halas
 
 When I’m feeling out of sorts for no particular reason, I often find that it is because I’ve forgotten to incorporate play into my day. I’ve allowed myself to get bogged down in ‘should’s,’ and ‘have-to’s,’ schedules and work. Yet, when I choose to let go and listen to the call of my heart I feel better. My heart calls for play. Why is that? Because play opens the gates to the energy of love.
 
It is possible to make play of our work. Children know this. A happy child will spend most of their day playing. Everything is creative fuel for play. Their intent is play. Their work is play.   
 
As a 10 year old child my favorite form of play was what my best friend and I called, "A Game".
 
“What do you want to do today?” She’d ask. I’d say, “Let’s play a game!”
 
This meant that we would take on the roles of our favorite Beatle (remember those guys?) She was always Paul, and I was John, and we'd have adventures. Something akin to the adventures they had in their movie, Help!  Or we'd pretend to be some other exciting adventurers we made up, and we’d role play whatever came to mind.
 
We played another game we called, "Elves," believing that we had seen elves. Maybe we did. It was part game and part real to us.
 
The very best game of all we called the "Snow Bowl." That game could only be played after a heavy winter snow when our yard was transformed into a magical, sparkling place and the branches of the huge white pine in my backyard were weighted down to the ground with a blanket of snow. We’d crawl underneath that roof of green branches, heavy with cold, wet snow to play in our secret house, or we’d race through the soft, white drifts in the yard. The "Snow Bowl" game was filled with magic and wonder for me.
 
As an adult, I long for that sense of play, magic and wonder. It doesn’t come so easily to me now. I’m much more likely to have a day full of work planned.
 
The children in each of us long for play, so how then do we make play of our work? Perhaps our inner children can help us find a way of incorporating play into our daily lives. 

Check out today's Spiritual Toolbox  for a way to mine a wealth of knowing through the memories of your inner child.

Photo by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Start by looking to your childhood for clues. The chances are that the essence of what you loved to do then, still has meaning for you.
 
What were your very favorite activities as a child? Remember as many as you can, write them down. Don't worry about whether you would like to do them now, just remember what you loved to do then.
 
Here’s my list:
 
Playing imaginative, magical games with my best friend. Playing stuffed animals with my brother. Playing Barbie dolls with the emphasis on the imaginative part and dressing them for the part they were to play. Pretending to be a nurse caring for my big doll.
 
Finger painting, Play dough. Making construction paper holiday/seasonal decorations for my room.
 
Making a house out of the dining room table with blankets. Piling pillows at the bottom of the stairs and jumping down into them. Sliding down the banister. (My mother was a wonderfully tolerant parent!)
 
Riding my bike exploring all around the neighborhood and beyond. Playing in the woods, exploring, sliding on rocks, and pretending. The exploration felt so freeing.
 
Next, look over your list for commonalities and basic elements. You are looking for what is the essence of play for you.
 
What are the basic elements I see in my list?
 
I see imagination and wonder – a sense of magic. I see creative expression. I see exploration of new places and new parts of familiar places, and the sense of freedom that gives me.

These are the elements of play for me to incorporate into my daily life.
 
What are the basic elements you see in your list? Yours will probably be different than mine. We each have our own ways to play.

Now that you know the basic elements of play for you, how can you bring more of those elements into your daily life and your work?  

​Remember to honor the child within and play!
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