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It is my experience that every-so-often we get bored of ourselves. We're oh-so-serious and grim about all our "adult" (this applies to teenagers as well) responsibilities that we're not any fun anymore -not to our friends, and not to ourselves. We get weighed down by all our obligations (a very dreary word in itself, absolutely full of weight) and complications and implications that we forget how simple it can be to have a little fun. We can have a little fun easily and we could, if we let ourselves, play -just a little?
Most of the ideas I'm about to express come more or less directly from The Artist's Way or The Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron but I have taken it upon myself to spread the message. (I'm on week five for those of you who are familiar with it. And for those who aren't I highly, highly recommend it!).
As I write this I have literally just blown in the door from my daily walk. In fact, my walk was what really inspired this. You see, I attached two little jingle bells to my shoes -one for each foot. With every step I heard a pleasant jingling sound that made it very hard not to smile gleefully at every person I passed. I could not forget to have fun with jingle bells on my shoes.
Simple things that we never would think of, or let ourselves do if we think of them, can brighten your whole week! I have done the following things to brighten up and increase my sense of creativity and light-heartedness. I painted my ceiling. I was completely bored of my blue-and-pink sponge painted walls so I took paint brush in hand, got on a chair and made the first strokes of change. Now there is a pleasant, vibrant, flower-like thing on my ceiling. Purple, orange, turquoise, red and pink look anything but tacky when they smile down at me every morning. I feel so much more alive just looking at it. Perhaps those aren't the colors for you, but ceilings are amazingly powerful if you're not brave enough to change your walls. All you have to do to make all the dull and regular details subside it look up! It only took me a couple hours! I also painted my bureau with a similar theme if you need another surface to unload your inspiration.
The jingle bells did wonders for my disposition so I'm going to mention them again. They were seventy-nine cents at a craft store for eight -so maybe happiness is cheap after all. I'd like to warn you though, if you plan on taking a little walk in your neighbourhood with your new jingle in your step, realize that the dogs will be very intrigued! I got a lot of fervent barks as I passed.
Paint your toes. Pick a really bright shade you'd NEVER wear, but secretly like, and paint your toes. Only you have to know that they're painted. I like to do this in winter when I can cover them with socks but still get the effect of knowing I've been adventurous. Pink, Orange, purple and electric blue are especially good for feeling less boring.
Purge. Purge. Purge. There comes a point when you feel so "stuck" that you become fed up with your collection of "junk." I always feel better if I have at least a garbage bag worth of STUFF to get rid of after cleaning my room. Try throwing away (I put them in a recycling bag and recycle them) all the little papers you've been saving out of guilt or obligation. This includes every little notice for hot lunches and piece of paper with a smear of glue and sparkles in the corner done by your children. I do think we should preserve certain things if they're useful or make us feel good but be selective about it!
Take a playful risk. For me this came in the form of trying out dancing. I went to a community dance group (that just happens to be led by some friends of mine). For me this was terrifying in concept. The first time I just watched. I watched and barely moved off my spot on the floor where I seemed to be glued. The second time I tried it. I joined in. After a whole week of thinking about my taste of dancing I had enough time for my curiosity to override my fear. Now I had to try it or I'd never be satisfied that I knew what I was missing.
Throw in some color. This can be as simple as a purple scarf with your black, conservative coat, or as elaborate as my patch-work overalls made of about 200 different pieces of brightly coloured fabric. I cannot be grumpy and "stuck" when I'm wearing them.
I'm sure that many of you career-prone adults are reading this with a stiff body and an idea that it's a wonderful theory but you are simply too busy, professional etc. to play.
Let me say right now that I really don't like the idea of work very much. I love being challenged and stimulated. I am not too daunted by huge tasks and projects and I have a lot of energy but "work" completely turns me off. In my opinion, if you must "work" you should play at least as much of the time to balance it out. Every person I can think of who uses the word "work" to describe what they do most often is usually often drained and tired. If we consider it, though, and listen to the greatest thinkers, the most "famous" people we can think of, we will find many of them saying that although they are very busy and continually seem to be involved with their "work" they almost never feel like they're "working" -they feel like they're playing. This is how it ought to be. Even the ones who claim it took a lot of "work" to get to wherever they are probably enjoyed most of it. What I'm getting at here is to be doing something in line with your passions. Do the thing that feels like cheating because it's so playful.
I think too many of us have an extreme amount of guilt surrounding doing what we really love. The truth is, you will be giving so much more to the world as a happy and centered person doing something "silly" that you love (whether it's gardening, running a school, drawing, running a restaurant, writing or anything else) than as a tired, depleted, often grumpy person who does exactly what they think they are "supposed" to do. This does not suggest that we should all quit our jobs (although it often isn't a bad option) but that we should begin to play again. Just begin somewhere. Start with jingle bells, spending an hour on the floor with your little sisters (or children, or husband, or wife) tickling and giggling and doing nothing in particular or even having a bubble bath! Start bringing the joy back into your life and you will find you don't mind your "work" so much after all. Or maybe that you actually CAN make a living at what you love.
Take a playful risk.
Good luck and happy playing!
~Laura