It’s easy to lose sight of the importance of unstructured time as adults. Kids are masters at this. Understanding how we played as children, what we liked and didn’t like, is a key component toward bringing back play into our adult lives. Childhood play tells us about the things that came naturally to us.
For example, as a child I loved to explore. I used to drop little objects in a shoe box with a hole cut out of the top. Then I’d plunge my hand in and try to guess what it was. That same desire for challenge and ability to see old things in a new way is with me today.
That’s the great thing about play. It’s whatever allows you to forget about time and fully surrender to curiosity with abandon. Our early ventures at play can tell us about what we were like when people weren’t telling us where to go, what to do or how to be.
Re-gift yourself the gift of play by taking a few moments to reflect on what you loved doing in the past and bring some of that joy into the present.
