Back in 5th grade. I consider it as a physical activity type of thing where you have genuine fun. I do the same sometimes now but it’s not really ‘fun’ anymore haha
Tonight when playing (not our usual game with cards but some other) with my friends. It was fun. Along with it, we had a most delicious Poppy seed cake someone had prepared for my friends which they kindly shared, the desert after we had a very delicious salad done by one of my friends and a soup i had freshly made to share. Joyful moments.
Sometimes my son will ask me to participate in a video game with 4 of us playing. It is fun but usually I am not very good at it. It is amusing though!
Sometimes I play board games and we do play cards a lot when were are overnight on the sail boat. I like Rummy 500. When I visit friends in CT on a lake in the summer we play poker sometimes, again I am not really good at it but it is fun and we laugh a lot. I also enjoy watching the dogs play.
When did I last really “play?” What does play awaken in me?
Today’s question “threw me for a loop” as my Mom would say! You see, I was taught that I could not play until the work was done and the work is never done. I’m having difficulty pinpointing when I last really played and I give thanks for this question. It’s a wake up call. My grandson and his new wife will be visiting for Thanksgiving and I have found myself worrying about having everything prepared. I think I will just relax and save my energy. It may very well shock him to find his Grandma playful!
The question did remind me of a topic I wrote about several years ago titled ” God wants to play.” I share it below.
July 22, 08
I attended a conference many years ago and one of the sessions was about God wanting to play.
That has become a reality to me. This word “God,” which is so loaded that many reject it, is merely a term for togetherness. Trillions of cells have agreed to cooperate, to play, to form our bodies. How awesome is that?
Jill Bolte Taylor in her book, My Stroke of Insight (pp68-69), speaks of what happened to her awareness when the left hemisphere of her brain was shut down by a stroke. “I shifted from the “doing-conscious” with my left brain to the “being-consciousness” of my right brain…My entire self concept shifted as I no longer perceived myself as a single, a solid, an entity with boundaries that separated me from the entities around me. I understood at the most elemental level, I was fluid…My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuitry, my right hemisphere relished in its attachment to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea.”
Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth says “Life is the dancer. We are the dance.”
Is frolicking doing or being? I expect it is both but more than anything it is choosing to let your self play.
Funny, I grew up with a lot of chores!! I felt like Cinderella. I was the oldest girl but we all had chores. Meanwhile it seemed like none of my friends hardly did. I can relate to your first comments!
Play is important to me, but I don’t play
enough right now. I guess my Sunday
rides are a form of play. Certainly
when I’m going down hill on a trail,
I’m playing with speed, gravity,
traction, quick decisions, and just the
fun feeling of flowing through the terrain.
It seems to awaken my imagination.
Last night I played my favorite video game. to me “play” means just taking time to do something that is fun and brings you happiness, no matter what form it may take. When I play it reminds me to pull myself out of the moment and just focus on my emotions and joys. It helps me ground myself in a way and not be too caught up in my tasks of the day to day world. Like an oasis of fun.
hmm I actually play all the time. I fill my life with pleasurable things. But just a day of playing around probably a few months ago. I need to do that all more.
I belong to two canasta groups. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves as we gather to play. One group meets tonight. Another gathers tomorrow for our annual Friendsgiving. Looks like a weekend of play ahead for me.🌞
Oh my God! I am being awakened by this question that at the age of twenty-eight, I live a very less physical life. Most of my “play” is with texts when I read a book, trying to figure out the meaning of words or when I write something. I believe the last time I really “played” was this summer. I played “The floor is lava” with my little niece. It was so fun when she guided me to follow dancing techniques on the screen. We jumped together, we giggled together, and we crowded together. Honestly, I don’t really enjoy spending too much time with kids, but I must confess to myself that kids bring me so much joy and cheerfulness. The sounds of these angles laughing awakens me from a long sleep of anxiety and worry in my life.
I play with my cat – I chase her around the house (she loves it, lol)
My son and I will get to play I suppose – he surprised me with tickets to Epcot for this weekend:)
Play awakens a different energy in you, a good one.
I suppose that all starts with one’s definition of play. The last time I played child’s play was in July with my then 5-year-old grandson Emerick. He sure has an exuberance for life I have rarely witnessed. In September Cheryl and I went to Alaska for 6 days; some consider that play. Whenever I help someone sort, gather or brand cattle or work the ones I have, I play cowboy. When I go to change or check the irrigation, I go to play in the water. When I go exploring in the mountains or go fishing I play. Basically, I try to enjoy all I do. Not always easy, but generally it is. To do my daily meditation and mindful standing yoga. I continue, though, and remember it is a practice I enjoy. I have never really grown up, but the aging process reminds me otherwise. Might as well play, I have heard it referred to as the “Game of Life”.
I don’t really “play.” But I am always happy to watch my grand-pups playing, with each other and with whomever might be visiting in the family. I also have fun watching the squirrels get up to their antics in the backyard. They occasionally circle the condo in “races” which is fun, as well .I guess I’d say that watching the play just lightens me, makes me laugh. A gift on the day.
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Back in 5th grade. I consider it as a physical activity type of thing where you have genuine fun. I do the same sometimes now but it’s not really ‘fun’ anymore haha
Tonight when playing (not our usual game with cards but some other) with my friends. It was fun. Along with it, we had a most delicious Poppy seed cake someone had prepared for my friends which they kindly shared, the desert after we had a very delicious salad done by one of my friends and a soup i had freshly made to share. Joyful moments.
Sometimes my son will ask me to participate in a video game with 4 of us playing. It is fun but usually I am not very good at it. It is amusing though!
Sometimes I play board games and we do play cards a lot when were are overnight on the sail boat. I like Rummy 500. When I visit friends in CT on a lake in the summer we play poker sometimes, again I am not really good at it but it is fun and we laugh a lot. I also enjoy watching the dogs play.
When did I last really “play?” What does play awaken in me?
Today’s question “threw me for a loop” as my Mom would say! You see, I was taught that I could not play until the work was done and the work is never done. I’m having difficulty pinpointing when I last really played and I give thanks for this question. It’s a wake up call. My grandson and his new wife will be visiting for Thanksgiving and I have found myself worrying about having everything prepared. I think I will just relax and save my energy. It may very well shock him to find his Grandma playful!
The question did remind me of a topic I wrote about several years ago titled ” God wants to play.” I share it below.
July 22, 08
I attended a conference many years ago and one of the sessions was about God wanting to play.
That has become a reality to me. This word “God,” which is so loaded that many reject it, is merely a term for togetherness. Trillions of cells have agreed to cooperate, to play, to form our bodies. How awesome is that?
Jill Bolte Taylor in her book, My Stroke of Insight (pp68-69), speaks of what happened to her awareness when the left hemisphere of her brain was shut down by a stroke. “I shifted from the “doing-conscious” with my left brain to the “being-consciousness” of my right brain…My entire self concept shifted as I no longer perceived myself as a single, a solid, an entity with boundaries that separated me from the entities around me. I understood at the most elemental level, I was fluid…My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuitry, my right hemisphere relished in its attachment to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea.”
Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth says “Life is the dancer. We are the dance.”
Is frolicking doing or being? I expect it is both but more than anything it is choosing to let your self play.
Funny, I grew up with a lot of chores!! I felt like Cinderella. I was the oldest girl but we all had chores. Meanwhile it seemed like none of my friends hardly did. I can relate to your first comments!
Play is important to me, but I don’t play
enough right now. I guess my Sunday
rides are a form of play. Certainly
when I’m going down hill on a trail,
I’m playing with speed, gravity,
traction, quick decisions, and just the
fun feeling of flowing through the terrain.
It seems to awaken my imagination.
Charlie, I really was caught by the thought of playing with gravity, etc. I always considered play as with others. This gave me a whole new concept.
Last night I played my favorite video game. to me “play” means just taking time to do something that is fun and brings you happiness, no matter what form it may take. When I play it reminds me to pull myself out of the moment and just focus on my emotions and joys. It helps me ground myself in a way and not be too caught up in my tasks of the day to day world. Like an oasis of fun.
hmm I actually play all the time. I fill my life with pleasurable things. But just a day of playing around probably a few months ago. I need to do that all more.
It depends on the definition. For me play is anything that totally engages me with little expectation or stress. Something that gets me out of myself.
I belong to two canasta groups. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves as we gather to play. One group meets tonight. Another gathers tomorrow for our annual Friendsgiving. Looks like a weekend of play ahead for me.🌞
Oh my God! I am being awakened by this question that at the age of twenty-eight, I live a very less physical life. Most of my “play” is with texts when I read a book, trying to figure out the meaning of words or when I write something. I believe the last time I really “played” was this summer. I played “The floor is lava” with my little niece. It was so fun when she guided me to follow dancing techniques on the screen. We jumped together, we giggled together, and we crowded together. Honestly, I don’t really enjoy spending too much time with kids, but I must confess to myself that kids bring me so much joy and cheerfulness. The sounds of these angles laughing awakens me from a long sleep of anxiety and worry in my life.
I play with my cat – I chase her around the house (she loves it, lol)
My son and I will get to play I suppose – he surprised me with tickets to Epcot for this weekend:)
Play awakens a different energy in you, a good one.
I suppose that all starts with one’s definition of play. The last time I played child’s play was in July with my then 5-year-old grandson Emerick. He sure has an exuberance for life I have rarely witnessed. In September Cheryl and I went to Alaska for 6 days; some consider that play. Whenever I help someone sort, gather or brand cattle or work the ones I have, I play cowboy. When I go to change or check the irrigation, I go to play in the water. When I go exploring in the mountains or go fishing I play. Basically, I try to enjoy all I do. Not always easy, but generally it is. To do my daily meditation and mindful standing yoga. I continue, though, and remember it is a practice I enjoy. I have never really grown up, but the aging process reminds me otherwise. Might as well play, I have heard it referred to as the “Game of Life”.
Delightful entry, Joseph. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face today!!
Every time I doodle it feels like play. There’s no goal to create something. The inner critic is silent. I can just relax and do.
For me it’s coloring. Your response and others reminded me that I “play” more than I thought I did.
Laura, I find your response to the question very helpful. Thank you!
I don’t really “play.” But I am always happy to watch my grand-pups playing, with each other and with whomever might be visiting in the family. I also have fun watching the squirrels get up to their antics in the backyard. They occasionally circle the condo in “races” which is fun, as well .I guess I’d say that watching the play just lightens me, makes me laugh. A gift on the day.