My study has taken on a whole new look and feel this summer. It started back in February when the person I hired to install some new bookshelves badly damaged my newly installed floors. I had to wait five months to get them replaced because my floor guy had moved on.
Understandably.
My books waited patiently in boxes. Fortunately I left at least one bookshelf intact (in the bathroom no less) while the construction work was being completed so I wasn’t entirely without my books.
THAT would have been wretched.
Yet, here I was in an empty office space listening to my voice echo off the walls when I held client conversations or delivered tele-calls for one of my online programs.
About that time I was taking a deep dive into the world of art journaling (which for me, is simply an adult version of finger painting) and pretty soon my office space started filling up with more and more supplies to feed my new habit. My study started looking more like an art studio than an office.
I liked that.
I’m sure my dad was smiling down from the heavens. He loved his paints, too.
I noticed something during that time. Just having my supplies visible made them that much more accessible. Kind of like keeping the Vitamix on your counter so that you remember to make that gorgeous green smoothie, right?
Here’s what else I noticed. My play dates with paint made me far more productive throughout the day. It was almost as though they were teasing me out. Hurry up and finish that blog post they would call … we’re waiting. Turns out play can be very addictive. In a good way.
I am feeding myself at a whole new level.
No, I’m not eating my paints but just yesterday the dragonfruit I ate for breakfast showed up in my art journal. I think my unconscious was trying out this new hue.
I decided I am NOT a fan of pink.
I am also learning a lot about my transition from an all-work-no-play persona to someone who positively revels in play without purpose. That’s a fairly new concept in my world. I think I’ll adopt it.
Permanently.
I believe we ALL need to give ourselves permission to work less and play more. Other cultures embody this concept. Why can’t we?
What’s more?
My dreams are now including ‘color play’. This is big. I rarely remember my dreams. In fact, the only ones I remember are the terrifying dreams that show up when I am reading a heart wrenching book or I’ve just seen a disturbing film. I have to be VERY careful to monitor, closely, the information that enters my psyche. Particularly in the evening.
So tell me … when did you last nourish yourself with paint?
Or play with a camera App on your iPhone?
window shopping
grit and pearls
one man’s trash can
Or assemble scraps of paper that might have something to tell you when you
slow down long enough to listen?
I want you to know this has been a gradual shift in my life. I have a greeting card on my desk to remind me to slow down and savor a little more each day. It says:
I used to be driven.
Then, I pulled over.
I started in my kitchen. That was easy; I felt rather confident in that space. Plus we have to eat, right? It may as well be luscious. Play was another element entirely. I didn’t have role models for play. I grew up in an environment with a very strong work ethic. Even my dad, who was a watercolor artist, reserved the more playful pieces of his art for weekend drives into the countryside or family vacations.
Sometime we need a little jump start or a loving guide at our side. I believe this so strongly that I created a whole retreat around this concept with my dear friend and colleague Cami Flake. We’ve created something pretty special here and it’s filling fast. We’d love to be the guides at YOUR side.
Perhaps you’ll join us!
Click on the image below for details.
Registration is happening right here.
10 thoughts on “Play: The Highest Form of Research (Einstein)”
Wow. Sue Ann, this first photo is amazing with the pink paper against the black and the swirls. You say you don’t like pink and yet…this is all pretty magical and delicious. It certainly looks like play to me. Very whimsical. I can certainly see the influence of your photography class.
Keep posting photos because there is something you’re doing here that is higher power stuff.
I thoroughly enjoyed this blog post! And actually first thought that the beautiful row of paint was English Licorice! 🙂
I love this! I agree that having play time is absolutely necessary. It refuels me and makes it so I have a good attitude and like you, are more productive. We definitely need to make sure that we are taking time to enjoy life and play. Beautiful pictures too! Thank you for sharing!
beautiful invitation to play, sue ann. i’ve been experimenting with photography a lot lately, and i’m forever assembling scraps of paper (images and words) and making assorted collages out of them (i’ve even allowed this creative excursion to enter my formerly-always-pristine daily notebook journal!). but, although there are many many art supplies (both of my sons are artists), i’ve yet to make the leap to painting. i know i will though. i absolutely adore color, and my sweet mama was an accomplished artist. just a matter of time . . . maybe this is the boost i needed.
April, I know the feeling of having a journal that is pristine. I think I might even use that word with mine. I didn’t know how to invite drawing and whimsy into my journal. So I got a whole “other” journal…one for the art me. I got a quality one with good art paper and have allowed myself to play in there. Sometimes it’s writing, sometimes it’s doodling (I’m a big doodler). Sometimes it’s collected items like grasses and flowers.
Slowly…VERY slowly, I’m allowing the messier parts of myself (because I am anything but pristine in my big life) into that sacred journal. I like that the lines can blur. It’s an experiment, not a finished work, right?
The sentence that really stood out for me in this blog post is this one:
“I believe we ALL need to give ourselves permission to work less and play more. ”
I couldn’t agree more! In fact, the word I chose as an overarching theme for 2015 is Playfulness, and it has been a very fun year so far!
I don’t know the last time I played with paint (not very talented in that department!), but I coloured in a pretty fish in my Mindfulness Colouring Book yesterday. It is green and red and blue and yellow and purple. And the last time I played with a camera app was just a few minutes ago, lol. Now I’m heading out to play with my dog.
Thank you for sharing such a lovely, playful blog post!
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses to this post. I would love to respond to each of you individually but this week I am getting ready to travel so my ‘play dates’ are numbered. When I return I will find a way for us to display our artful endeavors so that we can cheer each other on as we explore play without purpose. Keep creating art in whatever form that takes. Much love to you. See you in a few weeks. xxoo
I agree that it is really important to keep supplies visible. In the same way that we eat with our eyes first, we probably create/play with our eyes first too. Having sufficient (physical) space to lay out supplies is a luxury we don’t all have, but even a notice board or pin board for scraps of colour, interesting quotes etc is helpful and stimulating X
I agree, Penny. For me it was a creative ‘rearranging’ of space and the addition of one box that can hold everything when I simply must remove the art supplies from my desk. I love the idea of pinning some of those scraps to a notice board. I am always inspired by color. xxoo
Lovely post, Sue Ann! I wholeheartedly agree with inserting more play into life; it adds more to our productive lives than one would think. My favorite “medium” has been a vision board type of collage stuck onto a magnetic white board. I can mix and match and move around at will. And I love this: “I used to be driven. Then, I pulled over.”