12/01/2021
When I was 14, just before entering 9th grade, my best friend’s mom took us on an overnight to Duluth, MN. It was a weekend to celebrate our promotion into high school.
What I remember most from that time was our trip to the toy store. My friend’s mom told us each to pick something out to remind us to never forget to have fun, to always remember to include play in our lives.
I chose this stuffed lion.
What a gift she gave to me that day.
He’s traveled with me to college and to my first apartment, to my first house, and even gone on a few vacations with me. But even more importantly, he reminds me to never forget my childlike wonder.
When I need inspiration for an upcoming training that I’m leading, I will often go to our local toy store, and look over every shelf. I allow myself to be curious, to be truly excited by the colors and the designs. Usually I leave with some small item to incorporate into the day’s agenda.
To me, play isn’t a side dish or a condiment, meant to be sprinkled on, to taste. Play is the main event. Play offers the chance to explore, to test limits and boundaries. Play gives space for what is possible. Play is the best recipe for learning.
I learned that as a 14 year old, and it’s still true more than twenty years later.
Today as I sat down to work I couldn’t stop remembering this story. So I dug my stuffed lion out of the storage bin he’s been in, and placed him prominently on my shelf. It was as if he was calling to me, “Don’t forget. Don’t forget to play.”
What a gift he has been to me.
How are you including play into your life?
