After it finally stopped raining last Sunday, I put on a sweatshirt and went outside to walk around the backyard and inspect my flower beds.
For the record, I’m not complaining about the rain – the month of March was exceptionally dry with devastating wildfires around the state, so we were grateful to have in it. A little closer home, the rain did wonders around my yard, especially the azaleas.
Their magnificent magenta color is currently stealing the show in my backyard, and to celebrate I decided to cut a few branches (along with some tulips and daffodils) and bring them inside.
But before I plopped them into a vase, I decided to bring them upstairs and lay them out on my favorite old wooden background. I spent the next few minutes enjoying some creative playtime by laying out my blooms in a simple grid.
In the past I have often created these kinds of flatlays as content for my Instagram feed. But now that I have taken a break from Instagram, on Sunday I did this just just for me. No reason. No end goal. Just to enjoy the process of playing with my flowers. Which I did immensely.
Several years ago I wrote about the importance of play:
In his book, Essentialism, Greg McKeown defines play as “anything we do simply for the joy of doing it rather than a means to an end.” He goes on to say that play helps us to expand our minds and see things differently. Through play we are able to make new connections and generate new ideas. Play is also a key factor in relieving stress because of the way that it stimulates the parts of the brain that required for “logical reasoning and carefree, unbound exploration.” According to Greg, when we are stressed, it basically hijacks the creative parts of our brain and puts our emotions into overdrive.
But when we play, stress is no longer at the helm of our thoughts and emotions and it allows our creativity and higher, executive functions to return to the wheel. Therefore play isn’t just beneficial, play is essential.
August 2016
So in case you need to hear it today, consider this your permission slip to play. Whatever that looks like for you. Just for joy it.
Love, Kelly
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