I’m Coming to Play

This is an excerpt from the weekly News-Loveletter. If you would like it sent to your inbox directly (with all the other juicy bits, including a mini joy practice), you can add yourself to my mailing list here.

Last weekend, I had the great good fortune to be invited to the coast with a few of my favorite queen bees. (Another such friend called for a life stage between maiden and crone. We lady-identified folk in mid-life, she said, can rise to our role as “queen.”)

Let me tell you, 3 queen bees in a woodland hive can produce and consume outrageous dinners and desserts, read a stack of books, and swap enough stories and dreams to keep the laughter flowing for months. Many thanks to Julie and Camee (playing with me above) for making this possible.

At the center of this bliss: play. We all wanted to step out of the boxes we have lovingly constructed for ourselves. We wanted to loosen up and flow in a non-linear fashion, to gulp expansive breaths of coastal air and sink our feet into sand.

We wanted to play.

In mid-life, play seems barely an option in our busy schedules. And yet, play keeps us limber, loving, and free. All-out running and jumping, swinging and romping is the kind of play that we are not likely to do next to our desktop computer, and that’s especially why we need it.

Who do you play with in your life? Where and when are you most likely to poke, giggle, jump, and squeal with someone you care for? Is your play cup full, or do you want to pour a little more in, even if it’s just spinning in the center of your living room alone until you fall laughing on the couch?