walking the sacred spiral
walking the sacred spiral
Playtime is something I loved as a kid. So many things fell into the category of “fun.” I was an only child with a single, older parent, living in a 26-acre apartment complex with huge yards and play areas. There was even an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Because there weren’t other kids in my household, I was attuned to the sounds of kids playing outside and couldn’t wait to join them.
In college “playtime” evolved into concerts, late-night pizza, Chinese checkers in the dorm, watching Night Gallery on TV with friends, doing actual performances (thank God I was a Drama Major), and other college extracurricular activities I won’t go into here.
In the world as an “adult” playtime got a bit ignored over the years. It was something to fit in when and if the work was done. Of course we all know that it is never really finished in the ways we live and work today. We work long hours or lots of days in a row and gets lots done. We pride ourselves on all that we can accomplish and bemoan it when we can’t. Playtime doesn’t hold a lot of value, unless we’re sports fans. Reminds me of Dr. Paul Pearsall’s humorous description of a hypothetical tombstone inscription from his book, The Heart’s Code, “Got everything done. Died anyway.”
A study was just discussed in the July 23 issue of The New Yorker that demonstrated people’s greater happiness at being able to walk among living trees (or even see them regularly from their windows) was equal to a $10,000 increase in income or becoming 7 years younger. And the boost was five times greater for those with clinical depression. Imagine! Just walking down a tree-lined avenue regularly brought about these benefits, even when it was a walk to work.
Yesterday I went to Lake Sonoma with Amanda and some friends on their boat, complete with a floating sofa! Did I have work that needed to be done? I did. It had to wait. I needed to chill and forget the work.
Embarrassingly, this is something I had to make some effort to do, even though I knew I would enjoy it tremendously once I was there–and I did! I still wear that work ethic a little too tightly. Is that true of you as well?
Is it time to stretch and go for a run? Take a walk down a tree-lined avenue? Listen to some music that makes you dance, or watch a movie that makes you laugh? It’s time I gave playtime the serious consideration it deserves. (Smile) How about you?
What Is “Fun” Really Worth?
Friday, August 21, 2015