Child's Play

 

Quinn's art journaling entry ( age 3)

Anytime you want to be reminded of absolute freedom, just invite a small child over. It is remarkable how playful and unconcerned with the logic of time they are.

Lately, I have been trying to tap into my granddaughter Quinn’s sense of time and her obsession with play. Prior to this, I found myself getting frustrated with her inability to focus on one thing for more than 5 minutes. I would ask her if she wanted to draw, and then 5 minutes after I got out all the materials she would want to do something else. Instead of me, the know it all adult, managing her time or directing her day; I began simply following her lead and directive. There’s a whole lot of wisdom in her time management and her expression of play. For her, play is serious business. When allowed to flow in and out of what interests her -- and this seems to change often -- she is learning invaluable lessons about herself and the worlds she inhabits.

When taking this wisdom into my own experience (sans child) I find that by moving through the day with a sense of playfulness and allowing my day to unfold based on what is truly interesting to me- ideas come more freely -- a sense of discovery comes from following your own intuition about what is needed in any daily task. Once I started following an inner directive, I learned that I do my best “work” when I allow myself relief time, break it up time, for me that usually means focusing on one thing for around 30 minutes to an hour then getting up to do something opposite of that activity. I find that when I go back to the previous task I have more clarity and a fresh look at it. Now, to some linear thinking folks, that looks like chaos, or procrastination, or undisciplined. But, it is how my body, mind,& spirit likes to roll. Truth is, I get just as much done as the next person. The key is to find your own rhythm, syntax, and play-work balance and trust it.

The rest is child’s play.