Play on Saturday with Jeanie.
It was an odd entry on my to-do list.
The list that runs down the length of my desk. Onto the floor. Curls past my office door and into the hallway.
It’s long.
Just then, while thinking about the length of my list, I remembered that Jeanie and I planned to attend a play at the community theater on Saturday evening. How could I forget between the five articles due next week, six classes I had scheduled to teach around the same time, and fitting in conferences and observations with interns?
Play. Who has the time?
My husband and I discussed needing more playtime just last week, so it shouldn’t surprise me the word began showing up serendipitously.
We’ve justified all work and no play for years, and understandably since our jobs are fun. We both agree we’re grateful to get up every morning and do what we love. We’d do most of it for free if we didn’t need money to survive.
Still, we came to the same conclusion, “We need to play more often.”
The kind of play that does not include enjoying research for a blog post. Play that does not involve mowing the lawn because I like the smell of fresh-cut grass. Neither is it the kind of play that has us tiling a bathroom floor because we can’t wait to see the finished product.
Play.
Unproductive in light of my to-do list. Unrelated to any of my three jobs. Earns no money and may even spend a few dollars. Not allowed to improve our house, our budget, our landscaping, or my weight.
Play. Just for fun.
What do you do, just for the fun of it?
WRite wHere I’m supposed to be – It was refreshing to see the word “play” on my to-do list, and I’m delighted to see it showing up more often in my life.
Great post and great reminder! Remembering to slow down and \”play\” helps us to retain some balance in our busy lives.
Thanks, Agnes. Take care of your daughter and you!
Seems like the older I get the more the word \”play\” is tied to \”effort\”.
Going on vacation, holidays, fishing and even riding my motorcycle requires more and more of this \”pleffort\”.
So thngs like sleeping, eating, and reading truly fall into MY play category.
Funny how age affects the way we look at words.
If we can count sleeping, eating and reading, John and I have play covered – no need to add more. Saves us the pleffort. Love it!