Play

Today I went for a walk in the rain. A fine mist was falling and it felt like getting a facial. My skin drank it up like a cool drink on a hot day. It was delicious. I imagine the plants and trees and flowers liked it too. When it is overcast colors seem so much more vivid. As I walked through the park the greens of the grass and trees and the pinks purples and reds of the flowers seemed to jump out into my outstretched eyes. I felt childlike and carefree walking in the rain. It felt easy to greet strangers because they were part of the tribe of rainwalkers. As I approached my street two boys who looked about ten and twelve were playing on a pogo stick. I stood and watched and the little girl inside me was very excited. I had a pogo stick when I was growing up and I spent hours on it. A great deal of concentration was required to keep jumping and not go flying off it. I got so I could stay on it for many jumps. This was something I could be good at even though I was overweight and not very athletic. Seeing these boys jumping in the middle of the street brought it all back to me. I screwed up my courage and asked if I could try their pogo stick. They were very generous and said sure and didn't even roll their eyes at each other. I climbed on and started to jump and the rhythm came back to me. I jumped about ten times and then jumped off. They were impressed and that was fun. I thanked them warmly and said goodbye and continued on my way. It felt wonderful in two ways. One was that I put myself out there and asked for what I wanted. Two was that I did something I wouldn't normally do that the little girl inside me was excited about. As I walked on I could feel waves of pleasure-walking in the rain having jumped on a pogo stick. One of the reasons it was so much fun to be a Mom to a young child was because I got to do playful things a lot.
Now that Monnya is grown up once a year I hang out with my ten year old friend Danielle and we play. Even though I am usually exhausted when she goes home I so enjoy keeping up with her boundless playfulness and creativity. I think it's one reason people love to be with grandchildren so they have another opportunity to play. Today was different.I let myself play without the excuse of having another kid around besides me. In the future I'd like to look for opportunities to be playful just because it's fun. I bet Andie (the little girl inside me) has lots of great ideas. I want to expand what I think of as fun and bravely risk being foolish even more than I already do. Laughter yoga is a great opportunity to be silly and playful. The group I love meets Mondays at noon at the Unitarian Church on 14th and Lafayette in Denver. www.Denverlaughs.com Come and give it a try if the spirit moves you. It's a great way to practice letting go and laughing for no reason.
What will give your inner child a chance to play? Maybe it would be good to ask and see what your inner little boy or girl would like to do that sounds like fun. Then take a deep breath and let yourself do it.