5 Reasons why you need to make time for creative play

Playtime isn't just for kids, adults can benefit from play, and I'm sharing 5 reasons why you should incorporate play into your life.

 

 

This week I filmed and edited my first YouTube video, and although it isn't perfect and I have so much to learn; I'm super excited to see it all come together.  [You can check out that video below, and if you want to see more of my videos, don't forget to hit that subscribe button.]

When I decided to dip my toes into the YouTube pool, I started coming up with a list of videos I wanted to create and share, and my first video is all about... [yes, you guessed it]  PLAYTIME.

 

Play can look differently for each of us...it could be experimenting with a new recipe, a family outing, going to your favorite store and trying on clothes with your besties, hitting the basketball court with the guys, etc...  As a creative/artist, play is giving myself permission to paint whatever and however I want without any expectations of the outcome.  It has been a long time since I allowed myself to paint without a plan, and it felt so good and free.  I feel like the final painting testifies to that freedom.

Do you take time for play?  If you answer is "Yes",  Yay, you are on the right track. If your answer is "No, I don't have the time", then I have 5 good reasons why adding play to your life will benefit you [maybe more than you might imagine].

1.  Adding play to you life will help to relieve stress.  

Playing is a good distraction from stressful situations, and we all can use a good distraction that allows us to laugh and enjoy the moment.  We can also agree that if we feel less stressed, our bodies are healthier and therefore more productive.

 

2.  Adding play to your life will help spark joy.

Ok, lets be honest here.  I admit that when I'm stressed, I can be anything but joyful.  I can be ummm... grumpy, and I have a good suspicion that I'm not alone here.  We can't go day to day attached to our "to do" list working for the satisfaction of a check mark to only realize that life is passing you by.  Playtime will have you being more present with your loved ones and feeling much happier.  Doesn't your family deserves a happier version of you?

 

 

3.  Adding play to your life will promote creativeness.

I had a professor tell me that creativeness comes by creating.  The more you put brush to canvas, the more ideas you will think up, and from experience it has proven to be true.  When you give your mind a break from dealing with the same things day in and day out, and allow yourself to explore other things, the ideas begin to flow.  For example:  by approaching a painting with freedom to create spontaneously, I discover new processes, new color combinations, and/or new subjects or styles.

 

4.  Adding play to your life will keep things interesting.

This one goes hand in hand with reason number three because while you're allowing your creativity to blossom by discovery new ways to approach your craft (or work) this will also make things more interesting.  If we cooked our meals using the same recipe week after week, it wouldn't take long for us to get sick of them, am I right?  But, if we experiment with different spices and flavors, our meals become more exciting.

The same goes with our lives.  Sticking to the same routine day after day puts us in a rut that will become boring.  Taking time to play, will add some variety and interest to our day, week, month.

 

5.  Adding play to your life will nurture learning.

I used to work as a kindergarten teacher assistant before I taught elementary art, and wouldn't you know that their learning centers were a form of play?  Each activity had an objective towards learning even if the children just thought it was fun play.

 We adults are not too old to learn something by playing.  When I take the time to play at my easel, I learn new ways of doing things, but I also learn ways I shouldn't do things.  The same is true when playing a game, creating new recipes, or decorating a room...successes and failures both teach us something that we didn't know.

 

There are so many more benefits to allowing yourself time to "play" than what I have listed, but I hope these 5 have encouraged you to take more time to enjoy life with your family and friends.  I completely understand how easy it is to get focused on the demands of this world...I hear ya cause I struggle with it, too, but we only get one life to live.  I don't want to wake up one day to realize there were more relationships I could have fostered, and more ways I could have grown in my craft if I had taken more time to play.  You don't want to look back over your life full of regrets.

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” -Carl Jung

Happy Playtime!