What’s on your playlist?

As I sit in a hotel restaurant, across the room I see an elderly woman with bright purple hair and a punk rocker’s hairstyle. As I stare at her, I intrusively recall the daily words of my children in my head “please play with me”. With my response often being “mummy’s busy with something right now”, I ask myself – when did I forget how to play? When did I get so serious that I stopped having fun with life and engaging with it in a child-like way?

Here sat a woman across from me seemingly willing to play (at least with her hair) and unbeknownst to her – I felt inspired.

Society has conditioned us to believe that being an adult mainly consists of responsibilities and commitments – so many that we often feel fried alive by them. We are not often encouraged to find the balance required to manage those responsibilities and commitments – with fun and play! Even when we carve out time for leisure, it is often in front of the tv, computer or our additional limb – our phone.

A question posed on a podcast I recently listened to that may help evoke a sense of what play may mean for you was – What would your 10-year-old self be sad knowing that you’re no longer doing?

Perhaps you loved sports, music, socializing with friends, being in nature, artistic activities, eating out, playing with animals, karate or chess. What might it add to your life to invite some of that back?

While play is crucial for a child’s development, there are many benefits of play for all ages.

So I challenge you to consider … What would you like to add to your playlist?