Yesterday I sat down with my set of watercolors and spent a short while painting yellow dots (if you’re wondering if painting yellow dots on a cloudy day helps change your perspective on things, it does!). The yellow dots reminded me of our fickle friend Little Miss Sunshine and as soon as she made her appearance on my masterpiece, she demanded that I round it out with some sort of affirmation. Ta-Da! This is what I came up with:
I think that in the middle of all of the day-to-day “stuff” that happens around here–the phone calls and the e-mails to return, the bills to pay, the new inventory to price, the customers to chat with, and, of course, our new orders to take and design and print and assemble, it is really, really easy to let the actual CREATION of things lag behind and get lost in the shuffle. And it is the Creating part, the really refreshing make-something-just-for-the-fun-of-it process, that led me to this type of work in the first place. As it turns out, I NEED to play in this way, even if just for a few minutes. When I do, I find myself so much more energized and focused and ready to take on the not-as-much-fun parts of my day (that would be the bill-paying I mentioned earlier!).
Remember when we had things like recess and art class and music class? We actually had time set aside for us to run around and pump our legs until we could get as high as we could and paint self portraits and sing songs complete with clapping and stomping? And then we grew up and all of those things that were a part of the routine just sort of went away for a lot of us? Is it any wonder that so many people trudge around and wonder why their days seems so utterly short and unfulfilling and, well, just not FUN?
As we all climb out of our winter shells, I advocate play time. Whatever that is for you. For me, it has much to do with short little walks and colored pencils. And for you? Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we.