Day 11 Lenten Meditation: Play

Play is necessary to life.

Play is a way to engage ourselves with the world in unexpected ways, ways that invite laughter and more play.

There’s a common trope that says we lose our ability to play when we get older, but I see a lot of evidence to the contrary. Cosplay, practical jokes, puns, Internet memes — all of these are evidence that play still exists.

For those who have lost play, I suggest one simple exercise: Find a swing set, and climb into the seat. And then swing, heedless of who might see. Feel the laughter break forth from you, and that’s the result of play.

Then work your way up to fingerpainting, or talking to yourself in silly voices. Engage yourself in the messy, the ludicrous, and feel that laughter again. Get rid of the self-consciousness and just play.

Day 20 Reflection: Play

I have never stopped playing.

At age 55, my hands shape themselves into imaginary critters that talk in squeaky voices or growl and nip noses. I sicc them at my husband in the middle of restaurants when nobody’s looking, and he talks back. I don’t do this when the waiter’s visiting, because adults aren’t supposed to play.

I play with words. I make bad puns, which I’m told is more acceptable play for adults. I rename my cats silly things several times a day (Weeblebuttz sits next to me as I type this). I rewrite songs on the fly as jokes, or commentary, or nonsense.

My mind spontaneously explodes into play. I don’t have to make an effort to be playful. I don’t know if this is because I’ve never quite grown up or because I have bipolar disorder and possess the creativity that goes with the neurodiversity, but play is never far from my mind.

And I consider this a blessing.

Play

I need to play.

I was told I would have to give that up as an adult. I don’t listen well. I need to play.

Not something as structured as board games — I’m rather competitive and I hate to lose. Role playing — I love that. To me the game is secondary to being in character. Acting in plays in high school was one of my favorite ways of playing, but truth be told I’m not very good at it, mostly because my relationship with my body is awkward at best.

Nowadays, I play with ideas. Ideas for books or short stories, ideas for papers I want to write, ideas just for fun, like “What would your warning label say?” (Mine would say “Caution: Volatile moods”, even though I’m mellow most of the time).

I play with knowledge. I’m still teaching Richard the difference between Queen Anne’s Lace and poison hemlock (an important distinction, more so since I once saved someone’s life when they thought the big spotted stems in their backyard were rhubarb).

I play with learning. I always want to learn something new, especially if it creates something useful. This is why I wish I could learn knitting, crocheting, or tatting. (The two problems are 1) my hand-eye coordination and 2) being able to crack the arcane pattern code and not getting lost on the page.) But I’ve done winemaking, jelly making, and Thai cooking.

I play with creativity. Creating characters, realistic dialogue, funny scenes.

I also like to play with finger paints, stick drawings, and funny noises.

I’m going to go play now!!