“What I heard you say was, ‘I learned to enjoy to play
again.’”
I think one day I woke up and realized how much of myself I
had lost. Lost in the chaos of the life I was living, surrounded by devastating
circumstances that were beyond my control*. It was enough to tip the canoe over
and I felt like I was drowning. Clawing my way to the edge of the cesspool, thankfully
I finally found some solid ground of clarity while in counseling several years
ago. (*Another story) Thus began the “Grand Adventure” of learning to love
again and learning to enjoy all the beauty that Mother Earth offers us.
Finding a playmate was delightful. Trying new things was
exhilarating. Moving away was scary… I mean, thrilling. Meeting new people
offered challenging rewards of forming some pretty fantastic friendships.
Honoring the changes in a relationship and letting go was soul wrenching. I have been forever changed.
The drumming of the rain on the window could be gently heard
in the ebb and flow of quiet conversation as I sat with several ladies. “What
did you learn while you were gone?” I was asked.
Snapshot pictures flashed through my mind as I took a moment
to answer…
Seeing the golden frogs as we hiked 16 miles down and back up the Grand Canyon...
Snowshoeing up Sunlight Mountain in the middle of the night under a full moon...
Dinner parties under the twinkling lights on the patio...
Weekend morning bicycle rides to Carbondale for breakfast at the Smithy’s Restaurant...
Cruising down the Extraterrestrial Highway wondering if we were going to be abducted...
Learning how to drive a forklift...
Capturing scorpions with a black-light and tweezers...
Dancing barefoot in the conga line at the park...
Sitting in the hot springs while it was snowing...
Going down to the basement at work (which used to be a mortuary) and scaring my boss with ghost sounds...
Bubbles of joy surfaced as I remembered each of these
moments. My heart knew the answer. I had learned to play again. Maybe that is
what this part of the adventure was meant to bring me?
A lovely lady leaned over and said, “What I heard you say
was, you learned to ENJOY to play again.”
Yes! She was so correct.
I had remembered how to embrace the joy and beauty of each
moment with a child-like exuberance. I
remembered to be open to whatever unfolded. I remembered that it was not about
the destination, it was the journey. It was about those moments of laughter,
those quite moments of touching, those challenging moments of trying something
new, those moments… each of them, all of them… so life giving and so life changing.
We can all go “play” – be it a card game, a practical joke, shooting
some hoops, a game of pool or a bike ride. But how present are we in THAT
moment? It’s easy to be distracted by so many things outside of THAT moment. I
think it is a definite mind shift, a choice of being fully present with what is
going on around you – at all times of work, play and relaxation – that allows
the joy of the moment to arise.
It’s time to remember what we knew when we were kids...
The
glee of the moment.
The beauty within every moment.
The joy of play.
Wishing you a glee-filled year of enchanted play...
