What Might Happen If You Play?

What would it take to give yourself permission to play?   

I’ve been asking myself that question lately.  In the world of Covid, I’ve been working longer and harder than ever.  But I need to play – to release an energy that is lit from within.  What does it look like?  Inspired?  True?  Fun?   

I was interviewing another “artist in a suit” last weekend about what motivated her to finally release her creative spirit.  How did she decide it was more fun or time to play?  Lying asleep inside her for many years, she began to draw again.  She found freedom from judgment, allowing herself to simply be in the moment. 

She soared when she allowed herself to fail.  Well not really fail.  She let the ideas take shape and then they found their way to the canvas.  She said, “Perfection is in the process.”  And the creative process – whether it be painting, writing, or thinking through to complex solutions – comes from trial and error.

Create. Destroy.  Create again.  Destroy again…until something emerges that you could never have imagined.  Something from a knowing deep inside of you.

Children know that feeling.  They are open to a world only imagined.  They play with abandon – without limitations – free to explore and dream.

Without dreams we can’t create new realities.  We can’t even imagine what’s possible if our lives are only shaped by judgment.  Judgment from others, as well as those times when we judge ourselves.  We owe it to ourselves and the world around us to think bigger, create bigger, be bigger.

So…this “artist in a suit” needs to get to playing a bit more.  Maybe I’ll grab some colored pencils and simply doodle.  Who knows what might happen!