Deck the Halls with Lots of Love and Play

Need ideas for the holiday season? When I am fresh out of ideas, I tend to start with the people and places we love. Whether near or far, inspiration can be found everywhere and lead to anywhere.  

We were counting all of the letters of the alphabet. I hear, “Mom, I love you, all the letters of the alphabet.”

Love is everywhere. In little moments and in the meaningful conversations whether we know in the moment they are meaningful or not. Even “small talk” could lead to “big talk”. In fact, it is all big in the grand scheme of this one precious and wild life.

The timeless adage still rings true. Don’t spend money. Spend time. Time with those you love. What is at the core of each and every single one of us is this: Time, Talent and Treasure.

Ask those you love what they would love to do with the time you all have? Dare yourself to be pulled into the moment.

They and it will all surprise you. When we ask…, we get at that heart of what the other person cares about.

Some ideas, actions and answers that sprang up and out of boredom and inspired by an ask of:

Q: “What do you want to do?”

A: “I want to go to the car wash!”

A: “Let’s count the stars.”

A: “Write a book.”

A: “Watch tv”

A: “Can we add soap to the trampoline and jump?! Soap party!”

A: “Make a cat house?!”

A: “Play a game” (ie board game or action packed game of tag!)

A: “Play chase us with the remote control cars!”

A: “Ride our go karts.”

A: “I want to make a fart fort!”

A: “I want a piggy back ride!”

A: “I want to fight!”

A: “I want to climb.”

A: “I want to roll!”

A: “I want to swing!”

A: “Knock, knock…(I want to laugh!)”

…the answers are endless. Let it be. Let them play. Let yourself play. Shhhh, listen, let them tell you. Open your eyes, let them show you. Open your arms. Hug it out. xoxoxo

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Notes of A Grateful-Hearted Teacher and Life-Long Learner

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I was feeling grateful while reading an article that reflected on whether teaching was stunting other passions by Patrick Harris. Throughout it, I felt affirmed and validated in my own decade and a half experience from being busy all of the time to finding the time for the other things I care deeply about such as writing and creating. Read more from the article that inspired this one below:

Teaching just like receiving an “F” or a zero on a paper can literally “suck the life out of you” in the words of Rita Pierson but a “plus two” or being in pursuit of your passions / what you care about can fill you back up a bit.

The dilemma all comes down to having no time to pursue the other things that you love.

The top three for me are: reading, creating and travel. 

That is what I intend to keep on doing. 

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The Gift of Play: Everybody Needs It

Everybody needs a little love in their lives but you know what else everybody needs? Play.

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. —Plato

While in Vang Vieng, Laos, we happened to catch children playing from a far distance. No grown ups present. They climbed through tree roots, explored water, caught fish and laughed a lot. They waded water in the stream made their way out and found a large paint roller and rolled it all around in the dirt. I smiled and reminisced as my nostalgic childhood materialized.

“That’s what play looks and feels like. That’s honoring childhood.” My partner and I started sharing about our childhoods. How we were fortunate that ours looked like the childhood the children were playing in right before our very eyes. Childhood is finite and infinite at the same time. It lives on.

No fences, no dittos, no rules. Freedom. To feel and play. True play gives us a push into being in our body and mind. Everything is connected: spatial awareness to making connections. 

Play gives children practice to what they are learning and observing. It works for grown ups too in life, family and business. Want to learn more about your colleagues in less time? Keep it simple. Kick the typical “meeting” and get out there and play. 

Play Opens Doors

No matter where children and grown ups live or what they’re overcoming, play is essential.

It opens doors and shows us what we’re capable of and what we’re passionate about. It shows us who we are and are meant to be. We all are competent, capable and creative human beings. From birth until we die, we have to play in our purpose.

Play Promotes Collaboration

Listening and talking. Everyone plays a part in it. From role play / interacting with others to make believe / symbolic thinking. Even without someone else…being able to collaborate with yourself in your own world is the art of meditation. Play is meditation.

Play Gives Grace to Fail and Try, Try Again

Riding a bike to kicking a ball. You ride, you crash. You kick, you miss. You try again.

What did you love to play as a child? As an adult? Did it change? Why?