Time to Play

"Courtney, you play too much"

is probably a phrase I have heard more than never (at least a handful of times) in my life.

And it's true. My playfulness has absolutely gotten me in trouble. I've had to walk back, apologize, acknowledge unintended impact.. and still I advocate for play everyday.

Let's be clear about definitions. "Play" in my handy dandy Webster dictionary app has no fewer than 20852330.5 (exactly) definitions.

So, I've selected the ones that come to mind when I advocate for play.

1a. (intransitive verb (huh?)) to engage in sport or recreation: frolic

3. to deal in a light, speculative, or sportive manner

Honestly, I can't find a perfect definition for what I'm trying to get at.. Maybe that's why I wanted to write this post. Specifically, I am not talking about the kind of play that happens through mocking at another's expense. While that might happen unintentionally, and a moment of humor doesn't land for someone else, that is never the intent.

Life must have :

• moments of lightness, laughter, and joy.

• moments of practicing things that we don't know how to do or how to do well.

• the experience of trying, failing, and learning forward

I believe that play enables us the opportunity to practice imperfection and avoid getting stuck in a type of perfectionism that prevents the beautiful insights possible in gaining new perspective.

Taking oneself too seriously, or trying simply to avoid making mistakes, or feeling and looking foolish too often gets in the way of living our whole best lives and the discomfort of learning.

As they say, "outside the comfort zone is where the magic happens".

So let's make magic. What have you done lately or will you commit to trying that pushes you past perfection into that trying and learning space where magic is made? Tell me in the comments, and reach out if you have some playing to do with tough topics!

Wishing you good healthy fun,

from left:

the thing that happens to my face when I climb too many steps on a hot day

the thing that happens to my face when I am avoiding doing work

the thing that happens to my face when my teens have access to a camera