The Easiest Way to Play

The easiest way to play and bring balance into your body, mind, and soul, is to return to art. We were all artists as kids. With pencil or crayon, we colored and scribbled our way happily through life. We’d lose ourselves away from thinking and into doing.

Plus we didn’t do it for anyone else but ourselves. Before the inner critic was created by family or school, we loved every mark. We put our name on everything, made shapes of our family and house, and gave gifts of our art to Mom. Life was good.

So what do you do today to play, to get away from thinking and into doing? You need it more than ever these days.

As a kid, I’d ride my bike, walk the neighborhood, and draw birds, color pictures, and put stickers into books. I’d discover animals hidden on pages in do-it books. I’d work puzzles. To me, play was trying new things. I was never bored and nothing was ever ‘too hard’.

When did those ideas, beliefs, concepts enter life? Make friends with that inner critic and take him/her along for the ride. Tell them we’re just going to play today. Art is about the process, the doing, not the masterpiece.

Life is for the curious, the explorer, the adventurer. There is always something new to experience.

I heard a new word recently, ‘doomscrolling’. To me, that’s the hypnotized ‘lose hours in the day with nothing to show for it’ syndrome. It’s not even healthy to sit or stand all day staring at a screen, allowing your mind to go on automatic.

Return to your personal world. Create again. Be inspired, colorful, and original. News is old, fear hasn’t happened, so all you have is now. Do something fun with it!

I’m teaching myself to paint Water, Ocean Waves. I’m finding new skills. I wouldn’t do it on a FB Live! It takes time. I do a section and then go outside for a walk. Returning refreshed, I move onto the next layer.

Ocean is built in many layers. But it’s so satisfying, and I think that’s what Play is all about! New experiences grow and expand your world. Doing Art feeds the soul and enlivens the heart.

So what ‘satisfies’ you in the doing? I think it’s getting into the body, big time. Exercise is a daily great, too. Every day at 4:00, the thinking day is over. I eat a cup of soup while I play a puzzle. Then I do stretching, yoga, weights, and the treadmill. I feel so much better. It clears the mind.

When do you Play? What is Play to you? How do you satisfy your whole body, mind, heart experience? These days are full of opportunities just waiting to be tapped. Explore your ideas of play and if you want to be inspired with art every week, join Dragonfly Art & Mentorship. It’s what we do.

Come paint with me. Do something fun. Try out new ideas. Pay attention to your creative self. Fill your creative energy. Walk more, make more, move the body more. Tell your inner ‘nag’ that challenges are never hard or boring. Shift your belief to one of curiosity and play. Anxiety can be changed up to excitement. Make it so for your own sake.