The Spirituality of Play

Remember what it was like to be a kid, pumping legs, the swing going higher and higher, until that feeling...hair trailing through dirt. The merry-go-round, being dizzy as a friend pushed harder and harder, finally jumping on when the legs couldn't go any faster. Freeze tag, toilet tag, redlight greenlight... As a child most of our everyday stress was released on the playground, hanging upside down on the monkey bars. What happens when we hit that magic age, the stress of high school weighs heavy? We lose our release, our escape from reality, or maybe we just gain access to that part in us that is free and unrestrained, that can allow pleasure just for pleasure's sake. As adults we eat and smoke and drink and work and rage. As children, we play. As children we allow. As adults we restrain. I think we need a return to play as a tool to deal with our lives. Balance must be struck, yes bills need to be paid, but we must also allow ourselves the release of a good play. Yogis will tell you that hanging upside down recirculates blood, I tell you that crossing the monkey bars builds upper body strength, and swinging...swinging is just plain fun.