Restore Rhythm: Permission to Play
On Wednesday nights, I get paid to play. This fall, the early childhood coordinator at our church contacted me to find out if I might be willing to take on a less-than minimum wage job for an hour and a half on Wednesday nights. I agreed for several reasons, one being the fact that having a little spending money is always a nice thing, along with the truth that I am really good at hanging out with children, and doing so brings me a sweet sort of joy.
To me, talking to kids has always been so much easier and more natural than talking to adults. Perhaps this is one reason why I chose to earn my degree in elementary education in college. So I enjoy hanging out with little people, particularly since my own little people are now all teenagers and preteens. I enjoy watching children’s little minds work and hearing their giggles. When a small head leans against me as I read a book aloud, my heart quite literally melts. Playing with them - having a tea party, doing a puzzle, using our imaginations, dressing up, building things out of blocks or Duplo - makes me happy, and the time goes quickly.
As I read Rebekah Lyons’ chapter about embracing play, she seemed to take the importance of this habit to a whole new level. “Play breaks us out of our stressful routines and rejuvenates us. It’s play that so often restores our freedom and joy” (92). Although I think her reference to play isn’t quite like the preschool and toddler play we have going on, I think I understand what she’s trying to say.
Part of me felt a tiny twinge of jealousy, as I read about her galloping with abandon on a horse’s back. Her “relief, rejuvenation from letting go, releasing control, and experiencing a little lope of [her] own” (94) seemed like a whole different plane of play. But then I turned my thoughts toward the last time I got to play - and I instantly thought of getting to play five-0n-five full court basketball with my husband, three of my kids, and people from church last month. For that couple of hours, I did experience some of that release from my regular everyday life - I wasn’t figuring out what we’d be eating for dinner the next night or who would be driving our daughter to ballet class next Tuesday, and I was just having fun.
Do you find ways to play? Does it bring you release? For many of us, life is serious business, and we don’t always take the time to engage in the luxury of play. Lyons recommends this practice as part of the “Restore” rhythm. I think that her encouragement to restore ourselves by playing holds wisdom; see if you can find a way to incorporate a little play into your week ahead!