I’ve realized what has been missing in my life: play. The spontaneous bursts of joy that result from unexpected laughter, random off-the-wall antics, and pure silliness. I was sitting in a hot tub last night, and the thing was overrun with bubbles. One approach is to worry why the bubbles are there, and what it says about the sanitation of the place. Another approach is to cover your whole body in the bubbles, and then see what is the most efficient way to throw the bubbles the farthest (let me tell you, bubbles don’t like to be thrown).
You see, what play does for me is fill me up. I feel present. I feel satisfied. I don’t search for more. As a child, I played all the time. When my friend was helping Goldie Blox start, she told me (I would say asked but there was little room for deviation) to call me mother to ask her what my favorite toy was. So I called and asked and she said, “Balls. You just loved playing with balls.”
Thanks, Mom.
But the reality was true. I played lots of sports with balls. Almost of them had balls. Soccer, basketball, baseball, football, hockey (flattened ball), golf, tennis, bowling, and more. I only ran one season of track probably because I wasn’t strong enough to do shot put.
And if I think about my adult life, the playful moments and relationships are the ones that make me come alive. As much as I say I don’t enjoy coding websites or apps, I do when they are playful. Making jimkleiber.com was a blast. Creating those icons provided me constant joy. With iFeelio, I spent quite a while coming up with a logo, which looked like a dude looking at his shadow. The joy I had coming up with the logo (even though a good majority of users actually think he looks mopier than Eeyore) kept me going.
All work and no play makes ~~Jack~~ Jim a dull boy.
OK, let’s have fun.