Hey Grown-Ups: Yeah It’s OK To Play Sometimes, Too
This weekend I was at one of our East Texas bookstores perusing the shelves for the perfect Labor Day holiday read, when I found myself sort of pulled over to the kids' area. What pulled me in? Perhaps it was my inner ten-year-old self who occasionally pops her head up and usually requests we go get ice cream or watch a cartoon. ;) What did she see this time? It was the shelves of colorful, beckoning kids' activities.
See, in these moments, the reasonable side of my brain is saying "this is another one of those moments where not having children of my own means I can't really go over there and look at that friendship bracelet-making kit or the 'how to be a magician' all in one box set...that's crazy." But then my inner ten-year-old self say..."Uh, yeah we don't care what anyone says, I need to learn more about necklace-making now."
So, we went...myself and I. It was fun. I didn't buy any of the things on the colorful, beckoning shelf, but I wish I would've.
Where did we get some kind of a memo that we became adults we had to stop playing? Playing is how we learn minus the added pressure of performing well. This is a privilege we enjoyed when we younger and was a necessary part of LEARNING new things. I don't know about you, but I have no interest in stopping the learning process. Developing new skills is a key component of keeping our brains in tip top shape as we get older. Not to mention, it's fun. So play--play with arts and crafts or play basketball or video games or whatever the heck makes your heart happy.
You get extra points for not caring what anyone else thinks and EVEN MORE points if you do it in front of your neighbors. ;)