2008: Time to Play

maygirls.jpg

Happy New Year!

Here we are once again, at the turning of a new year, saying goodbye to the joys and sorrows of 2007 as we reexamine what we may create in this new, clean slate of a year.

It really does feel that way to me this year - that we have a wide-open space in which to make powerful choices that will set the tone for years to come. In my mind I of think of 2008 as the “blank page” year or the “lump of clay” year. What will we create?

Or a better question: How will we create it?

But let’s back up a step in the process. Last week I realized the month was coming to a close and I had no topic for this month’s Tee Reflections. I fired off an email to Laura, asking her what she thought. Her response was, “”Be like a child and play.” It’s in the Bible, the Tarot, and certainly in my heart!”

Of course. And, in the way of the synchronous Universe, I received two other emails mentioning the importance of play. Then the icing was a Solstice visit by my dear friend Valerie, where so much of our conversation was based around the ‘work as play’ theme.

It’s pretty nice to live in a world where you ask a question and the same answer falls into your lap from multiple sources! Thanks, Universe!

At first, I considered all the different meanings of “play” – as in perform, or fool around, or pretend. All of them valid, but the search made me realize that I needed to expound a bit. Because what I believe this year is about is engaging all of our differing and varied experiences in the “spirit of play.”

Silly Girls
SILLY GIRLS IN THEIR LITTLE GIRL HATS!

That’s more like it! Because all of our experiences are heavily influenced by the state of mind or being that we bring to them. Just like observing light influences whether it will appear as a particle or a wave, our attitude influences our experiences. I talked about this in more detail in “Balancing the Spiritual Mundane” back in September.

There is, however, a good deal more to it than that. Because it is exactly when we play that the most wonderful mistakes occur that are likely to end up being strokes of pure genius. When we break out of our usual modes of activity, and fool around a bit, suddenly we have invited the creative spirit into whatever we are doing and - watch out! Anything could happen!
Perhaps that sounds scary. If anything can happen, then it could be bad just as easily as it could be good. Well, yes. But the question is, can we learn to experience bad and good with the same joyful spirit? What happens when we bring the qualities of innocence, curiosity and fun into even the most challenging and difficult aspects of our lives?

2008 is a great year to find out.

I remember in my childhood playing games that mimicked the adult jobs that seemed interesting to me. So even though my own first grade teacher may have been grading our papers with exasperation or perhaps perfunctorily stamping smiles or frowns at the top of the page, when I played school I was having a great time. Can that still be? Can we play at our work? Can we allow it to be fun?

I mean, what if it wasn’t all so SERIOUS? And why does making something serious mean that we will get a better result? Will the stressed out, serious doctor who is trying to cure a patient succeed better than the happy, dedicated one? Shades of Patch Adams, I know. But it is true! The dedicated part is what matters. The perseverance is what is important. But does a frown on our face mean we get a better result?

Why can’t it be a “smile of concentration”?

I also remember that one of my favorite things in the world (other than having fun myself) is to watch people who are just enjoying the hell out of what they are doing. It’s contagious. Suddenly you are recalled to what that feels like. You are inspired to have some fun of your own.

Yeah!
CELEBRATE!!

We were all five years old once, and that spark of playful imagination is still alive inside of us. Bring it to the specifics of your life. When you smile and play, opportunities too wonderful to dream suddenly pop up in your life. When you play the “what if” game, solutions come that would make a five year old proud to know you.

In this way we can help to heal the world. In this way we can make life better for each other. It is a choice, after all. Choose to smile in your heart. Choose to love life back, because life loves you, with all of its might, every single moment.

Peace,
Tee

p.s. I’d love to hear from you! email me at teespirit@gmail.com

“Silly Girls” photo copyright 2007 by Linda F. George