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Officially Day 15 of Play Your Way Challenge! CRAZY. Welcome to your Thursday night prompt, the beginning of our THIRD! week of playing for our overall mental / emotional / physical wellness.
In week two we focused on expansion. I hope you feel confident that your ability to play is ever expanding, and can only be built upon! Giving ourselves moments of joy is what expands our holistic flexibility, builds new neural pathways, and helps us turn the pressure release to ON because honestly 2020 can just take a seat. We learned how to create new space for playing, to look for sparks and instruments to facilitate playing as an adult who deserves updated adult-style opportunities to get loose and have fun. We cleared room and got clear about what we enjoy doing, and how ripples can grow from the void of calm that is part of the natural ebb and flow of play and setting healthy self-informed boundaries. We learned that resting is the calm that proceeds a splatter, and that sound can play an influential role in getting into a playful mood and is a pretty awesome vehicle for all play personalities. Have you noticed your relationship with Play changing at all over the course of the past 15 days? If you are just joining in, WELCOME and, what piqued your interest?
For week three, the overarching theme of the week will be intersection. We will be looking at where multiple play personalities within ourselves intersect, where we intersect with others, and how Play can intersect your day in bits and pieces over time. Feel free to continue to expand, but start to take notice of where you intersect also.
Now.... for today!
About that Sound...
Quick recap on the past 24 hours of play from me. I spent this morning out on a "sound walk" where I was experimenting with what my day looks and feels like when I start it with a playful moment vs. jumping right in to daily responsibilities. What's a sound walk? It's where I put my headphones in, turn up the volume, hit the shuffle button on my Spotify "liked" songs library, and hit the street. I let the songs ineract with my thoughts, and sometimes song lyrics determine the direction I turn. Have you ever noticed moments of sound overlapping with real live movement? I live for those moments of serendipity. It feels like magic to me.
So as I was heading out, I got in a groove and allowed the song of the moment to direct me down some random side street in my neighborhood. I wasn't thinking too much about anything, just about how happy I was to be outside and moving on such a beautiful morning and thinking man this song is good when I paused to fix my airpods and noticed a rock. Right on a tall stone pillar, along the fencing. So about chest height and just off of the sidewalk. I noticed a rock there. And this is what it was-
And let me tell you I WAS ROCKED. I couldn't help but laugh in amazement. Here was a moment where the randomness of sound had led me to what felt like a magic little treasure. Makes me think ..... is it random? Am I like the water in the videos I shared yesterday, directed and moved by vibrational sound? Just one of my favorite things to ponder. In keeping with the theme of the adventure, I decided in that moment that this was obviously going to become the Play prompt for Day 15. AMAZE!
Amaze or... A Maze?
Today I want you to figure out what intersects your Playing that leaves you in a state of AMAZEMENT. How do you find an amazing Play moment? Does it feel illusive? Play around with setting the intention of finding something that will AMAZE you before you start playing, and see what happens.
It's normal for accessing a playful moment or an experience of AMAZEMENT to feel like stepping in to a giant maze- daunting, hard, how did I get here, wtf am I doing. You know you want to get to the center (optimal experience) but the way there can seem completely obscured. That's OK! Just start choosing directions. See what surprises you. See what creatures or ideas or objects or memories or sounds or senses come up to AMAZE you, regardless of how close you are to the center of that maze. Get playful with it - I personally am planning on kicking off this play prompt with a watching of my favorite movie, The Labyrinth. It's a movie that always reminds me that the treasures are sometimes the amazing things you find along the way rather than the destination itself.
Please please please share your amazing finds with me by tagging @eastonsmith in your IG stories and posts, and slap on a good 'ol #PlayYourWayChallenge while you're at it. Wishing you all the most AMAZING discoveries over the next 24 hours, and I'll be back tomorrow evening with the next Play prompt to bring us swingin' in to the weekend. <3