Leaving the Church to Find God
Leaving the Church to Find God delves into the shadows of organized religion, guiding you past indoctrination and towards authentic spirituality. Join solo reflections, insightful interviews, and a supportive community on this transformative journey beyond the pews.
Leaving the Church to Find God
Unlocking Authentic Success Through the Joy of Play: My 90-Day Journey to Rediscover Fun
Sometimes, the key to unlocking true happiness and well-being is as simple as recalling the unbridled joy of childhood play. On my latest podcast adventure, I reveal the magic that unfolded over my personal 90 Days of Play project, where I embraced my inner child with everything from dancing in my living room to building forts with my neighbor's daughter, Naya. This journey wasn't just about rediscovering fun; it became a structured pathway to emotional healing and a powerful testament to the ways spontaneous 'joy breaks' can enrich our lives.
As we navigate the waves of adulthood, the concept of play often slips away, buried under the weight of responsibilities. Yet, this episode is a heartfelt invitation to push back against the hustle, to lean into the laughter, and to prioritize joy in its purest form. I intertwine insights from the podcast 'We Can Do Hard Things,' along with compelling medical research on stress reduction, to paint a vivid picture of how integrating play into our daily lives can do wonders for our mental and physical health. It's an exploration of how these moments of whimsy can elevate our spirits and productivity in ways we never anticipated.
By the end of this episode, you'll feel inspired to carve out pockets of play in your own schedule. I extend an open call to join me in the "90 Days of Play Challenge," hoping to spark a ripple effect of joy and laughter across our communities. With weekly play ideas shared on my website and Instagram, I aim to connect us all in a collective celebration of life's simplest pleasures. So, whether you're rolling down hills or skipping down the street, let's transform our collective vibration, one playful moment at a time. Join me, and let's rediscover the profound joy that comes from playing without reservations.
If you would like to be a guest on this podcast or would like to support this work, visit www.leavingthechurchtofindgod.com where you can contact Melissa and or make a donation. Follow along my journey on IG at @authenticallymeli and find more in depth content on YouTube at Diary of an Authentic Life.
Aloha, god Potters, welcome back to the pod. So today I'm very excited to talk to you about this project. I've been working on the 90 Days of Play. If you follow me anywhere on social or are a part of my life, then you probably know that I'm doing this and that it's amazing and that it's amazing. So what is it?
Speaker 1:90 Days of Play is something that I was inspired to do recently when I just had the realization of how we try to do so many habits in life to improve our human right. Like we've really gotten into this. Like perfect your human. Don't eat anything unclean, don't breathe. Perfect your human. Don't eat anything unclean, don't breathe anything unclean, don't do anything unclean. Drink your lemon water first thing in the morning. Turn around 15 times, right, five pages of gratitude. Like so many exercises to just like perfect and optimize our human. But I really feel like we're underestimating the power of our happy endorphins, of all of those good chemicals that come when we're happy and when we play. So I really, you know, got to thinking about this and understanding that all of these benefits that I've tried to get from other, like disciplines, I could get just from having fun and I decided I wanted to experiment and give it a shot and see how that went. So that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 1:I have started the 90 Days of Play and, as I started writing about it and building up the page on my website, it just all started kind of coming out week by week, what we would focus on, what would happen, and it's come together really beautifully. I personally am in week three. I started on the eclipse. I knew that was good, fresh start, energy for myself and for the collective. So that's when I started it, but it can be started at any time. It's designed to be able to start at any time. It's designed to be able to start at any time. It doesn't have to be a specific 90 days. I just wanted to like pave a path so that anyone who wanted to join would have a path to walk down. That's already cleared for them and for myself, really just to do this. I felt inspired to do it. My soul leads these days. So that's what I'm doing, and it started with week one. I added a timer to my phone that, at a time when I knew I would be in transition from like work to my car or before leaving for work, I went through and through my schedule and set a timer on my phone for a time when I knew I would be available to stop what I was doing. So what happens is when that timer goes off, I stop what I'm doing and I burst into spontaneous joy.
Speaker 1:I play in some way or the other. A lot of times this looks like music, like putting on a fun song and dancing my heart out. Sometimes I forget or get my timer off and I'm driving down the road, so I'll just turn up a song that I love to belt out to and sing at the top of my lungs and just really get into it. One day I felt like dressing up, so I put on a beret and red lipstick and dramatic eyeliner and pretended to be French and sang French songs and listened to French music, because I remembered as a kid I loved to play dress up. One thing that's been really fun is skipping. I can start skipping around the store that I work in or around my yard or just wherever I'm at, and skipping immediately brings me back to my childhood self. So there are lots of ways that I do this.
Speaker 1:Week two, we've added a second timer. As each week progresses, there's like different, it literally progresses. So I don't want to spoil it all. You'll have to go to the website and check it out at liveallowcom or you can find it through the links in my bio on social. I'm at authenticallymelly on Instagram. That's M-E-L-L-I, short for Melissa. So if you want to check it out, you can find it there. It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:So first, what happened when I made this commitment to myself? It was like something unlocked inside, like my inner child just got really excited. I think first of all because I've built a really good relationship with myself and the fact that when I give my word I keep it. That's really important. That has become very important to me, not just having integrity with others but having integrity with myself. So I've I've done this enough that if I commit to something, I know I'm going to do it, and I've built that trust within myself.
Speaker 1:So when I made this commitment to just give 90 days to prioritize play in my life, my inner child lit up in a way that I did not expect. I didn't expect it first of all because I've added play in my life a lot over the last couple of years, especially really focused on joy, never really looking at it under the lens of play but adding joy and doing fun, playful things. So this has become a regular part of my life. So I didn't expect this big reaction from my inner child. But when I made this commitment to do this, I was giddy For a solid week and a half. Giddy, like couldn't stop bouncing around happy playing, just having the most fun. Couldn't stop bouncing around, happy playing, just having the most fun.
Speaker 1:Then I kind of went into like a deeper, more reflective state and I do follow along with the moon cycles. My body is on the moon cycle and you know it does make sense in the cycles of the moon. You know the first couple of weeks are more energetic and then things kind of start cycling down and getting into more reflective state. So in correlation with my cycles, this makes sense. But also some things started to come up. I've been processing through a lot of big things in my life continuously for a while now and processing wounds and different blocks and different things that come up. So this heaviness came up and I was like I don't want to play.
Speaker 1:When the timer would go off I'd be like, no, I don't feel like it, I'm sad. I don't know why I'm sad, I just don't want to play, but I would do it anyway. I don't force my inner child to do things that feel unsafe or opposed to what is asking me, unless it's something I know is really what we need to be doing. But in this case, it felt clear that this is inner child work that I'm doing, and so it was important for me to not try to force my inner child into this spontaneous joy when that wasn't what I was longing for. So I took these moments to go into more of a nourishing play Doodling on paper, making drawings, you know, coloring, making mandalas out of sticks and leaves outside in the yard, mandalas out of sticks and leaves outside in the yard, just things that were more introspective and nourishing and quiet and meditative, but also things that I enjoy not only as a child but as an adult Any kind of creating I get excited about, you know. So I really honored that.
Speaker 1:So if you hear this like 90 days of play, oh, that just doesn't feel like me or that doesn't feel realistic. You know, just know that it can be what feels right for you. But understanding the importance of prioritizing play and prioritizing joy in our lives, it's really interesting to me because when week two started my favorite podcast, of course, other than this one, my favorite podcast is we Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle and Amanda Doyle and Abby Wambach, and they released two episodes in a row, but released the first one two weeks into this challenge on fun and how to have fun, and so there's two episodes of this and so much of it was in alignment with what I'm doing and I love that and for me, that's always confirmation, because I believe that, you know, energy is comes in waves, especially with ideas and inspiration, and we have the option, when that wave comes through, to either jump on it or wait for the next one, or whichever one feels right, but that if we jump on the wave, we often find further down the way that there's other people riding that wave as well, and energy works that way. Back when I used to have my chocolate banana business, people would tell me that all the time They'd be like, right around the time that I saw you, I had been thinking somebody needs to do a frozen chocolate banana business here, and I heard that so many times and I believe that because I believe that that's how it works, like the energy comes through and it's not necessarily our idea. It's an idea that's coming through that we get to choose when it comes to us if we want to implement it or not. So when I saw that the podcast was on this subject, it really for me was validation and confirmation that this is a movement, this is something that is beneficial for everyone. Why? Why is this beneficial to everyone? Well, first of all, there's so much medical research that talks about stress and the effects of stress on our bodies and how hard stress is on us, on our health, on our mental health, on everything.
Speaker 1:Even if you want to go into productivity, no longer live my life based on whether or not, or my self-worth based on my amount of productivity. I feel like that is opposed to my core beliefs and how I feel that humans are meant to be operating in the world. So I don't go into that hustle culture, productivity. But it is very, very well documented that raising these endorphins, these endorphins that make you feel good, these happy chemicals, will make you more productive. If you've ever done any work with Tony Robbins, he does this like activating exercise to get him in this focus mode, which does work. It does get you into focus mode. I don't do those exercises myself because I feel like the focus is coming from adrenaline, which is more of that hustle culture, and not to say that that's what he's doing or what the experience is meant to be happening. But that was my experience when I did those exercises that got me operating in this productive focus space, because it was using adrenaline.
Speaker 1:But when I do these happy things, when I get up and dance, I am more focused and I am more productive, but not because of adrenaline, but because of all the feel-good endorphins that are coming up, not the survival endorphins, but the feel-good endorphins, all the dopamine and serotonin. And I have ADHD. So dopamine is a big thing that I depend on for focus and for being able to make things happen in my life. So it has made me more productive and if that's something that you're looking for, it's there. But I don't want to promote this as a way to be more productive because there's just so much more to it than that. But it's also good for my health. It's better for my health to have those happy chemicals flying around and not those stress chemicals. And that was very scientific the way that I'm explaining it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I just woke up this morning and decided now is the time. It was the time to record this. So here I am, authentically me, as per usual. So another reason why is because it's brought more joy to my life. It's kept me in a more lighthearted space. It is just made joy the focus, happiness the focus. And when I'm feeling kind of like I don't even have to wait for the timer to go off, I'm just like ew, why don't I just get up and make some silly movements and just stand up for a minute and shake my body or do something silly, make some silly faces in the mirror or just make some silly sounds? Or the other day my alarm went off.
Speaker 1:You know I live alone, so I'm no stranger to walking around the house in my birthday suit and I also am no stranger to dancing around my house maniacally Two of my favorite things to do, in fact. But I haven't quite combined them before and I didn't even realize that until the other day I was getting in the shower and my tower went off. So I was like, well, here I am in the birthday suit and just went crazy like dancing in the middle of my living room, and it was so much fun. I can't tell you like how much fun it was, it was so liberating and it just it just brought so much joy. And so that's that's the thing about this is it's like prioritizing joy has somehow kind of flipped my brain into this mode of looking for joy, looking for moments of joy. So instead of looking for stress or dread or anxiety-inducing events, I'm looking for joyful events. It has literally changed the way that my brain's working and y'all, I'm only two and a half weeks into this Two and a half weeks. There's 13 weeks in this 90 days, so that feels really, really good.
Speaker 1:Another reason why I'm doing it is for inner child healing, which I did mention before Giving my inner child space. I've been giving my inner child a lot of space to tell her stories. I've been giving her space to feel her feelings. I've been giving her space to express all feelings. I've been giving her space to express all the anger that she wasn't allowed to express. I have just been giving my inner child so much space. But giving her space to play has been so profound and so healing.
Speaker 1:And I had an experience the other day that I woke up at 4.30 in the morning it was like 4.26, you know, somewhere around there and was overcome with emotion and it wasn't like a mental emotion, like something that was being produced in my mind. It was coming out of my body, out of my nervous system, and I was thrown into this memory when I was about four years old and it's a memory I've had in my mind. I'm completely aware of it. It was not buried in my subconscious. I was very much aware of this memory. But one thing I'm realizing lately is a lot of the trauma from my past. I have intellectualized, but it did not feel the trauma from my past. I have intellectualized, but it did not feel so.
Speaker 1:Now that I have created so much space in my life for my inner child, for healing, I'm really starting to feel these things, like my body is able to feel them and release them, and it's coming out of my nervous system. And that's what had happened. At 4.30 in the morning I woke up and was in this place, but as my conscious observer, like my emotional body, was in this experience when I was four years old, but me in my true self, my conscious observer was there in the experience. So I wasn't feeling like a victim to the experience. I, I was just feeling the experience. I was very aware of what was happening. I was very aware that this was my nervous system healing, that things were coming out of my body. This is what I want. I was letting it happen. So I didn't judge the feelings, I didn't try to stop the feelings, I just let them happen. I cried them out, I bawled, I sobbed, all of that and so not necessarily something you think about when you think of joy and playfulness. It wasn't really what I was expecting either, but I know for a fact that it was a result of me doing this play work, because opening up this space for play is creating so many new spaces in me.
Speaker 1:If you've listened to the first episode of this podcast, you may remember I was talking about, you know, a time in my childhood when I stopped playing. I started feeling very responsible for the world, for saving everyone's souls, and I stopped playing. I stopped having fun. I became very serious as a person and that's kind of followed me. I do have fun and I do play, but the seriousness has really been the overriding part for a long time.
Speaker 1:And so, by creating this space for play, it's been so impactful because it's putting that serious part in the back seat, letting it take a seat, being like, okay, you've done your work, thank you, I know you're here when I need you, but we don't need to be so serious right now and giving my space, my self-space, to feel this joy, to be in in fun, to be in play, to not be prioritizing budget and all of these you know schedule and productivity and all of these things but to be prioritizing feeling good, has undoubtedly created space for my inner child to feel safe, to feel like, oh, there is space for me here. And so, if you are doing this, I want to encourage you. Like when your timer goes off now, if you're in the middle of something urgent or it's just impossible, okay, hit the snooze on it. Literally hit the snooze so that it comes back to you in eight minutes or however many minutes, because you don't want to put it off, because what that's going to do is send the message to your inner child that you're not ready to give them space yet, that you're still being an adult, you have to do the adult things and that this playfulness, this child self, is just on the back burner. But when you stop what you're doing if you're organizing or paying bills or whatever the thing is that you're doing when you stop what you're doing if you're organizing or paying bills or whatever the thing is that you're doing when you stop it and you play, it signals to your inner child.
Speaker 1:I am prioritizing you, I'm prioritizing our joy, I'm prioritizing our happiness. I've created space for you and in that space, your inner child will show up and heal, show up and play. It will show up and heal. It will show up and play. It will show up and cry. It will show up and heal. I'm saying this with confidence because I just see how clear it is for me and how it has worked out. Do I know this for a fact? No, I only have my own anecdotal experience. I'm not making a guarantee to you for anything, but it all makes sense. Knowing this work, knowing myself, knowing my childhood self, it makes sense and this it's how it works. This is how this inner world works. When you make space, you make space. That space will be used well and for your benefit. So, making this commitment to myself, prioritizing this play, it has allowed for some inner child healing to come through.
Speaker 1:That I wasn't quite expecting and I know that it can seem so frivolous and so futile, but I just gave you all like of these reasons of why it's not frivolous and why it's not futile. But something that I know that it's come up for myself and for other people is that, like how can we play, how can we have fun when there's all of these children who are suffering in the world, there's children that are starving and being bombed and oppressed, and you know, across the world, even here in the United States, like there's just so much suffering. It's like we feel this need as adults, like we have to make things right so that there's no more suffering. But I invite you to consider that if those children were in your position, would they continue suffering or would they want to play? What we have right now is a privilege. It's a privilege to have the choice to stop and play. It's a privilege to have the choice to stop and play, to create this joy, to prioritize joy in our lives. It's a privilege to be in a position to feel this joy, to have it just ready for us to tap into. Sure, it's ready for everyone to some degree, but there is no doubt that we're in a privileged position, even if we're listening to a podcast right now, that there's some privilege in that. So, for me, I realized that I'm not playing despite these children who are suffering. I'm playing for these children who are suffering. I am reclaiming the play that was taken from myself as a child. I am reclaiming the play that has been taken for all of those children. That was taken from all of us.
Speaker 1:You know Trisha Hersey she's one of my faves. She does, she has this. It's a manifesto. It's rest is resistance. I highly recommend it. I will talk about it over and over again. It's just the best thing for anyone who's wanting to escape the matrix of hustle culture. And it talks about, you know, white supremacy and how productivity and hustle culture has stolen rest from us. And you know I don't want to do a disservice to her work, so I recommend that you go into it on your own, but I'll invite you to consider that our play has also been stolen from us when we were put in these educational systems that were meant to make us function as cogs in a machine, to where we had to operate on the schedule, where we weren't given the ability to just create freely and use our imagination, and we went into this like math and science and how to do all of these things that our brains were really too young for when we really just wanted to play and create. But that was taken from us so that we could become part of this capitalist machine that we live in. And though I'm not necessarily anti-capitalism I am anti-corporatism I do believe that the state of our society is a mess and I do believe that this hustle culture has separated us from our bodies, from our souls, from our purpose, from why we chose to be here as humans, and that play is resistance to that. By taking that playback, it's owning what was taken from us. I believe that if we hadn't been told at any point in our lives that we had to stop playing and grow up, or hadn't been given adult responsibilities as children, if we hadn't been forced into this transition, that we would have just continued to play. Sure, we would have done other adult things, but that play would just be a natural part of our lives.
Speaker 1:And there's probably ways that you play that you don't even realize that you're doing it. You know if you're part of a what is it? The fantasy football league? You know you're playing when you're doing that and that's why it brings you so much joy. I mean, it may be a gambling addiction as well, I don't know, I can't speak for you on that, but you know it's play. There are ways that we play that we don't even realize that that's what we're doing necessarily, and especially with women, like even men. I know, know, of course we all have our struggles, but I know that that a lot of men do keep those extracurricular kind of groups and play things when a lot of times women feel bogged down by the responsibilities that they have and they don't find space for that. But women are more likely to have like friendships with multiple people. So if that's your thing when you're with your friends, like, how are you playing? Do you play in those situations? Do you find yourself laughing a lot, being silly? What are ways that you are already playing in your life? What are ways that you enjoyed playing that you haven't done in a long time?
Speaker 1:I used to love like rolling down a hill in the grass. I've done it as an adult. It makes me itchy and it hurts a little more than I remembered. But from observing some kids at this we have this really steep hill up at Kula Park and watching the local kids ride down it. They'll sled down it on a cardboard box, but they'll also like wrap up in the cardboard board. I was going to say the box, but it's not really a box. At that point it's kind of cut open. But they'll like wrap up and imagine like a blanket in this cardboard and roll down the hill and I'm like that's the smart way because you don't get so itchy and if you bump into a rock or something it's not going to leave you with bruises that'll hurt for days. But rolling down the hill, man, is so much fun, it's so liberating. You just like let it go and it's just the most fun. Yeah, I feel like play is natural to us when we let it be.
Speaker 1:I remember one time gosh, this was only like a year ago I was at a friend's house and we were doing a spa day and all the ladies were by the sauna and we did some cold plunge and all of our masks and scrubs and it was just wonderful, wonderful way to play with the ladies. But I was kind of hot at one point and getting a lot of sun, so I went to go jump in their pool in the backyard and the pool was floating this like figurine. I don't know, I can't remember if it was a superhero or a guy with a bucket, I don't know. It was some little toy and before I knew it, without even realizing it, I was in the water playing with this toy, like a kid in the bathtub. And I don't know how long I was doing this before I realized it. But when I realized it I just had the biggest laugh and I'm like, oh wow, I just picked that up and started playing with it without even thinking about it and it really hit me like how natural that was and I'm a grown woman like to just pick up that toy and start playing with it. You know, and that's really something that I've been thinking on, it's how natural play is to us when we allow it. So there's just been so much inspiration for this.
Speaker 1:You know, I think about the heaviness of the world and all of the things that are going on right now in politics and just things are tough. It's tough to see we have exposure to a lot more information than we're used to, and just things are tough. It's tough to see we have exposure to a lot more information than we're used to and being able to see the disparities of the world. It can be really hard on the psyche, it can be really hard on the soul. But also, I believe in the law of attraction and I believe that where our focus goes, energy flows. I believe that that which we resist persists.
Speaker 1:I believe that when we raise the vibration, we raise the vibration, and so, in thinking of law of attraction you know Mother Teresa is known for this quote and I'm not going to. This isn't the exact quote. I will go ahead and admit that I'm probably not getting this perfect, but Mother Teresa had been noted for saying that I'll never go to an anti-war rally, but if you invite me to a pro-peace rally, I will be there, and that's what this is. This 90 Days of Play is my pro-peace rally and that's why I don't want it to end. That's why I hope that more people will join on and this 90 days will continue until somebody joins that, and then that 90 days will continue and this can just become us raising this vibration and bringing our attention to what we want more of, which is fun and enjoyment and fulfillment and laughter and play. We want more fun, we want more joy.
Speaker 1:So you know, I could sit there and continue to scroll and watch the things that make me feel awful and helpless and wish that I was independently wealthy so I could be protesting all over the world and not have to worry how I'm going to fly to get there or anything else, but I could instead just really really enjoy my life and really really enjoy my time and create as much fun and joy as possible and understand the way that energy works and that the more joy and the more fun we make, the more joy and the more fun there will be for everyone that we can raise the vibration of the planet by being more joyful. And notice I did not say by drinking a lemon water when you first wake up in the morning, which sure, if you want to do that, that's great. Or writing five pages of gratitude when you wake up in the morning, or, you know, doing your green juice and two hours of meditation and then your yoga, and then you know all of these disciplines, disciplines. There's nothing wrong with the disciplines. Do what feels good. Discipline, great, great.
Speaker 1:But what good does it do to perfect our human, when our human did not come here to be perfected? Our human already knows that it was born perfect. Our soul is perfect. Our human already knows that it was born perfect, our soul is perfect, and the human came here to have some fun, to have some experience, to taste things, to see things, to feel things, to feel emotions, to feel the sadness, to feel the pain, to feel the happiness, to feel the joy, to feel the excitement, to feel the anxiety, to feel all the feelings.
Speaker 1:And I really feel like we've neglected. Many of us, including myself, starting with myself, have neglected the joy feelings, the happy feelings, and we can discipline our way into a life that looks perfect, all we want. But if we're not prioritizing joy, what's the point prioritizing joy? What's the point and how effective is it really? Is the stress that I feel from missing my writing out my morning gratitude, or from forgetting to do my lemon water in the morning, or from not being able to fast for 36 hours straight and eat for 12 hours like that for me is stress inducing and I know that the harm that stress does on my body and on my soul and on my brain. But joy and play well, that's joy inducing, that's fun inducing and that brings good health to my body and to my mind and to my spirit. So sure, if you want to have all the other disciplines, have all the other disciplines, but what I'm inviting you to understand is that you can get all those benefits by having fun. And if you want to do all those other things too great, do it all.
Speaker 1:But if you're going to start with anything, start with the joy. I mean, if we only had one day left to live, what would you do with it? Would you be like, okay, I've got one day. If I don't eat any calories and I exercise for like six hours and I meditate for like two hours and blah, blah, blah, blah blah, then at the end of my life I can be a little more fit and more zen, more meditated, more focused. I will have perfected my human just a little bit more. Or, if you have that day, would you be like I'm just going to have as much fun with this day as I possibly can because this is the last day that I have in this life and I want to enjoy it? I mean, you do you, but I'm going to guess it's going to be the second one. If you have one day left to live, you're not going to worry about your abs, you're going to try to have fun with it, you're going to connect with people that you love, you're going to have joy and do things that you enjoy. Our lives are like that you never know which moment is going to be your last. You never know which day is going to be your last. So, by prioritizing joy and fun, so by prioritizing joy and fun, at least, if it comes to you unexpectedly, you were doing what you wanted to do when it happened. Sure, you can keep your job. Sure, you can keep doing all your adult things. Of course, do your adult things. But if happiness, if joy and fun just become a regular part of your life, there's not going to be that regret of oh, oh, my God, I spent my last day just doing a bunch of junk that doesn't even matter in the scheme of things. Are we going to spend our lives perfecting our humans? Are we going to spend our lives enjoying our humans? I don't know about you, but I'm going to enjoy mine. I know it.
Speaker 1:When my neighbor's daughter comes over to play Naya she's the best she loves to come and visit me on Sundays. A lot of times I work on Sundays these days, so I miss her, which makes me kind of sad, but whenever she comes over, before starting this challenge, I would make it a point, if at all possible to stop what I'm doing and play. And I like to ask her first, like, what do you want to do to play? Because she has great ideas. But if she doesn't have something picked out, then we'll paint or we'll go do something in the garden, we'll do something fun outside. But I love this with Naya because when I come into presence with her, like it's easy when kids come around, to like adult them, to watch them or, you know, to keep them safe, to be the adult, even when, like, we're watching kids or babysitting or whatever, to keep them occupied and be the adult while they're over there playing. But I really try to make a point when I'm with children to be present with them, to like get on their level and to play with them. Not play with them, like to entertain them, but play with them, to play, to have fun. And when I'm with kids, we'll build forts, we'll have races, we'll do play hide and seek, and I enjoy it. I laugh, even though I know I can run faster than any of them. I make my tiny little Fred Flintstone steps and I laugh and have the best time doing it.
Speaker 1:When Naya comes over to play, we could color or we could go make something with the leaves and I'm going to have a lot of fun with that and it really reconnects me to that childhood joy, to that childhood self. But Naya is so creative. She one day brought me an envelope she had covered, she had colored paper, made it into an envelope and filled the envelope with all these pretty little flowers from around her yard. And I still have it and the flowers have dried in the envelope. It's so special to me because it's just so beautiful, like. This is our childlike beauty. You know she went through all of this to make a little envelope to hold flowers. Look how beautiful and simple is that.
Speaker 1:You know, playing doesn't have to be complicated. It can be so easy. It could be again like if you're in an office and your playtime comes up like sit next to your cubicle, mate, and play some tic-tac-toe and get into it. I would say hangman. I don't know if we're still doing hangman. I would think that that's probably offensive to somebody at this point. But play some hangman if you feel good about that. Or maybe we can call it something different and make it less violent. I don't know. Make some paper airplanes and have a race throwing them across the office, go outside on your lunch break and sit in your car and scream at the sing at the top of your lungs, or scream if that feels good, like there's so many ways to play. This challenge doesn't have to be a challenge. The only challenge is making the commitment to do it and keeping the commitment. The play itself is not challenging at all. It's so much fun.
Speaker 1:If you want to see the ways that I'm playing or see more about this, there's a highlight on my instagram where I'm putting on my 90 days of play stuff. There's also a link in my bio on instagram that will take you directly to the page on my website that goes into all of this. You could go straight to the website and check it out there. If you are going to play, please, please, please, share it with me. Hashtag 90 Days of Play 90 Days of Play Challenge. I'm following it because I want to see who's joining. I want to see what you're doing. Maybe you can give me some ideas for playing that I haven't had yet. We can all give each other some ideas. You know, join the fun, join the fun. But even if you don't, just for the sake of yourself, for the sake of energy for the sake of the planet, like have some fun in your life. You know, make some way for fun.
Speaker 1:If you are following along on the website, it's there is a 90 Days of Play tab and on that page each week has a block that you can click on and it will take you to a blog post about what to do for that week, what timers to set or some ideas. Each week goes into different aspects of play and kind of deepens that. I'm also doing some blog posts on my own experience as I go through this. I've had some very profound experiences happening already, so I'm keeping up with it all there. If you're interested to follow along, it's all available for you. If you are following on the website, just know if you click on a week and nothing comes up, it's because I haven't hit that week yet and the weeks are scheduled to publish on my schedule because I know nobody's going to be ahead of my schedule because I started it, so it's on my schedule. So if you go to click on a week, just come back when that week begins or when you're into that part of your journey and it will be there waiting for you, I promise and yeah, this was a rant.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening, thank you for being here. I hope that you understand this and what it is and why I'm doing it. If you don't, that's okay, you don't need to. I hope that this has encouraged you to invite more joy and play into your life. I really, really hope that you've decided to join me on the 90 Days of Play Challenge. If you're following along, let me know, give me the encouragement. If you haven't yet, I'm going to ask you again on the outro. But in case you skipped that part, please follow along on this podcast and subscribe.
Speaker 1:Wherever you follow along, leave me a review, especially if it's going to be a five-star one. If not, that's okay, you don't need to, but it helps other people see this. The more people that follow, the more downloads, the more reviews, the more people this podcast is going to be shown to, and if you're listening to it, then I'm going to guess that you're finding some value in it. And if you're finding some value in it, it's likely that others will too. Oh yeah, and share it. If there's an episode that you love, share it with your friends, share it with people, get it out there as much as I am 100% doing this for myself. I also love to share it with the world. So thank you again for being here. Thank you for listening to me on my morning rant fresh out of bed no coffee, no breakfast, just doing this because play is the priority. I love you all. Thank you so much for being a part of my world and I wish you all the best on your journey of play Aloha.
