When we think of playing why is that most of the time we think that playing is for children? Have you watched a child or a group of children play lately? They play so naturally, so care free with no judgement. They can go into a room full of toys and play a little here and there until they land on something that really gives them joy and pleasure. They don't doubt themselves or question whether or not it's the perfect thing for them. They instinctively know if it's something they enjoy. Somewhere along the line we tend to lose that ability as we grow up or ... maybe we numb out to it. There are lots of reasons for that of which I'm not going to focus on in this post. We'll save that one for another time.
I've been thinking about this because I went out and played yesterday. It sure renewed my spirit and, oh my gosh, my energy is so high as is the inspiration. The ideas are flowing like milk and honey. It's CRAZY! All I did was have breakfast with friends at my girlfriend's house followed by window shopping at cute little shops in the area. Oh and my favorite was checking out a new tea room. It's beautiful and actually in my neck of the woods. I have great plans for my own play dates and for business. Excited yes I am!
Personal play dates are so important to renew the spirit. It's a way of filling up our cup so that in the end we can give to others. We can't give or we can't give well from an empty cup. Sometimes we can take a big chunk of time for a personal play date like I did yesterday. We need to schedule those in. I do enjoy it when it happens spontaneously but it's not a good idea to wait for that to happen so by all means, schedule something.
A personal play date is doing whatever brings you joy. It can be different for everyone. You can play alone or you can play with a group or just one other person. No rules .. usually. More on that later.
The thing is some women are so numbed out in their lives that they have no idea what brings them joy. Does that describe you? I was once there. I started by experimenting with a little of this and a little of that just like children do when they walk into a room full of toys. The universe is our big playroom. Allow yourself to explore it! See what you like. And by all means don't judge yourself - that is a negative since.
To give you an idea on where I started, once a week I would lose myself at Starbucks with a good book, a yummy mocha and my journal. From there I'd go to my favorite store at the time and just nose. It was a special little store that just by being there nurtured my soul. I loved the ambiance. I wouldn't take a lot of time - sometimes just an hour and those particular dates were mandatory to be alone. These one-hour weekly jaunts taken alone are another type of play date that I highly recommend. Anyway, that's where it all started for me. Now it's expanded to lots of other nifty fun adventures some as small as 15 minutes and some over nighters.
Remember, playfulness feeds the spirit and soul allowing for awesome moments of inspiration.
When was the last time you took a personal play date??
