Making time for play
I just had the funnest time with some girlfriends here in our community tonight. We went to JC Penney and had our portraits done, just like we had decades ago with our families when we were kids. We each picked a childhood photo and put together an outfit inspired by the photo, then came together for a little photo shoot.
We laughed at ourselves, let the photographer position us in hilarious (sometimes a little creepy) configurations, and giggled through all of our poses. It was complete silliness and complete freedom.
A few things stand out to me as I reflect on the experience:
- Play was easy and fun to do, but we had to commit to it and show up.
Several of us almost backed out because we had other stuff to do or we hadn't found the perfect outfit yet. It was tempting to text the group and say, "Shoot, something came up." or "I'm not feeling great." But sticking with the scheduled plan and showing up was well worth the effort (and so easy once we were there). - The idea popped up, and my friend Jan grabbed it and put it out there for us.
I think ideas like this are everywhere, just waiting for us to grab onto them and say, "Hey, I'm doing this. Who wants to join me?" - Laughter is a connector.
We're such different women, with our own backgrounds and our own challenges we're dealing with. But laughing naturally unified us while we set the hard stuff aside for a bit. - We're never too old for play/silliness.
It felt so good to just laugh and play without feeling judged (or judging myself). It was total freedom. I will be having more of it.
Look around and find opportunities for play. No pressure, no strings attached. Just you and your curiosity sparks will do the trick.
