As I began seeking out a more playful existence, I quickly stumbled across what keeps so many of us from play: life can be quite exhausting. Time feels short, loads weigh heavy, and the immediate and important quickly drown out the ideal and hoped-for. It can seem formidable—if not impossible—to pursue happiness when there are so many other essential tasks begging for attention. How are we supposed to embrace play when finances are tight, friendships are strained, and flu season (or worse!) is here? What about when our boss is impossible? When the rent increases, the refrigerator breaks, or the student loans come due? When—and I’m speaking hypothetically here—a toddler decides that sleep is for the weak? Not to mention the difficulties we face in the more desperate or devastating seasons of life when grief arrives, illness turns chronic, or all hope seems lost.
And herein lies the first invitation of playfulness: to play well, we must rest well.
Read the rest over at Ann Voskamp’s blog. (Many thanks to her for the kind invitation to share!)
Courtney Ellis 